Power Rangers Spartan Force
by TheGreenRanger6
Summary: Xerxes, the king of Ancient Persia has risen from the unholy depths of the Netherrealm, and is seeking out the six Elemental Pillars to wreak havoc on the modern world with his armies filled with Persians and monsters. Only one team of highly gifted people will be able to stop this chaos from unfolding across the Earth. They are the Power Rangers Spartan Force!
1. Summary and Characters

Power Rangers: Spartan Force

Premise: Xerxes, the king of Ancient Babylon has risen from the unholy depths of the Netherrealm, and is seeking out the six Elemental Pillars to wreak havoc on the modern world with his armies filled with Persians and monsters. Only one team of highly gifted people will be able to stop this chaos from unfolding across the Earth. They are the Power Rangers Spartan Force!

Theme Music

RANGERS

Red Ranger: Leonidas Aira "Leon" Florian

• Controls the spirit of the mighty Dragon Phoenix

Blue Ranger: Cassandra Sykes:

• Controls the spirit of the Hydra

Yellow Ranger: Lily Ponsta

• Controls the spirit of the Thunderbird

Black Ranger: Cedric Humphries

• Controls the spirit of the Scorpion

Green Ranger: Dorian Redstone III

• Controls the spirit of the Cerberus

White Olympic Ranger: Artemis

• Controls the spirit of the Kraken

ALLIES

Mr. Pasqual/Trojan: The brains behind the Spartan Force Rangers. Supplies them with all the technology needed to perform their duties

Spirit of Alexander the Great: Mentor to the Spartan Force Rangers.

Past teams of Rangers

Project Hexagon

ENEMIES

Red Chaotic Ranger: Clone of Leonidas, named Alexander

• Controls the spirit of the Chimera

Blue Chaotic Ranger: Clone of Cassandra, named Rebecca

• Controls the spirit of the Gorgon Medusa

Yellow Chaotic Ranger: Clone of Lily, named Sarah

• Controls the spirit of the Harpy

Black Chaotic Ranger: Clone of Cedric, named Jamal

• Controls the spirit of the Banshee

Green Chaotic Ranger: Clone of Dorian, named Jonathan

• Controls the spirit of the Cyclops

Zora: The cursed side of Artemis that worked for Xerxes, hunting down past Rangers.

Nagiz: Android created by Alexander to help in his fight against the forces of evil. Went rogue and defected to Xerxes

Xerxes: Immortal undead king of Babylon who has risen to destroy the world

MORPHERS

Phalanx Watches for the Rangers and Blood Scrolls for the Chaotic Rangers

Ancestral Amulet for the White Olympic Ranger

WEAPONS

Ranger Primary Alternate

Red Ranger Dragon Phoenix and Hydra Swords Dual Power Blasters

Blue Ranger Hydra Bow Shark Cannon

Yellow Ranger Lightning Daggers Energy Orbs

Black Ranger Scorpion Hammer Ravencroft Gauntlet

Green Ranger Cerberus Shield Exosuit

White Ranger Power of the Gods Blaster Doom Blades/Battlizer

Ranger Primary

Red Chaotic Ranger Fang of the Chimera

Blue Chaotic Ranger Apollo's Bow

Yellow Chaotic Ranger Furies Claws

Black Chaotic Ranger Scythe of the Reaper

Green Chaotic Ranger Fist of Polyphemus

ZORDS

Ranger Zord Zord Piece Auxillary

Red Ranger Dragon Phoenix Chest and Head Fire Beetle

Blue Ranger Hydra Right Arm Shark

Black Ranger Scorpion Left Arm Viper

Yellow Ranger Thunderbird Left Leg Raven

Green Ranger Cerberus Right Leg Minotaur

White Ranger Kraken N/A White Tiger

Spartan Force Megazord

Kraken Strike Megazord

Ranger Zord Zord Piece

Red Chaotic Ranger Chimera Chest and Head

Blue Chaotic Ranger Gorgon Medusa Left Leg

Yellow Chaotic Ranger Harpy Left Arm

Black Chaotic Ranger Banshee Right Leg

Green Chaotic Ranger Cyclops Right Arm

Spirit of Evil Megazord


	2. Chapter One: The Beginning

CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING

September 29 2023

 _ **Fade in on a weathered stone circle**_

Gather round the VanGuard Stones and I will tell you a story of epic proportions, of a team of individuals that sacrificed everything to save our world from utter destruction. This is the story of the Spartan Force Rangers!

 _ **October 31 2016**_

Leonidas Florian. 19 years old, a complete and utter hunk. He is the captain of his high school's cross-country team and a natural born leader. Who knows what he could do if he was placed in a position that required him to place faith in other people to avert disaster? Only time will tell.

 _ **Knock on his door**_

"Leonidas! Wake up or you'll be late for school, and on the first day of your senior year in a new school! Cassandra will be here in ten minutes, hurry up!" my mother shouts. Leonidas lifted his head up a small bit and glanced over at the alarm clock on his nightstand, which read 6:30 AM.

"Ugh. Better get up," he groaned. Leonidas lazily got out of bed and shuffled to his closet. Fumbling around, he managed to dress himself in a red UnderArmour shirt, black jeans, and black combat boots. Grabbing his backpack, Leonidas walked out of his room and took the stairs leading downstairs two at a time.

"Aren't you going to have any breakfast, sweetheart?" his mom asks.

"No time, Ma! I'll get something on the way!" Leonidas shouts back. A sky-blue sports car pulls up and a girl with an ample chest, wearing a blue halter-top and a white frilly skirt with sunglasses looks out.

"Hey babe. You ready?" she asks.

"Cassandra. Heaven must be missing an angel, because you are always so beautiful in the morning. God definitely broke the mold when he made you," he replied. Cassandra smiled and laughed.

"Get in goofball," Cassandra smirks. Leonidas hopped in the car and Cassandra drove down the street. A few minutes later, they were driving down the highway towards their school. Leonidas was spending his time looking out the window wistfully, barely paying any attention to the song playing on the radio, or what his girlfriend was talking about. "LEONIDAS!" she shouts. Leonidas is jerked out of his daze and tries to play off his ignorance with a slick smile and a swipe of his hair.

"Is something wrong, baby?" he asked.

"Where is your head right now? For the past ten minutes, I have been talking about the dress I want to wear to prom this year, and how I'm worried that I won't be accepted into a good college" she recounts.

"Yeah, of course I am. I'm just thinking about a strange dream that I had last night. It has been on my mind since I woke up," he tells her. Running his hand through his hair, Leonidas sat back in his seat.

"Are you going to tell me what it was about?" Cassandra continued to prod.

"I really couldn't tell you. Most of it is a blur, but I do know one thing…the world is coming to an end," he spoke solemnly.

"Are you feeling alright? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Cassandra asked worriedly. Leonidas took her hand and entwined her fingers within his, while looking deep into her eyes.

"Cassandra. I'm fine. It was just one dream. All I feel right now, is that I love you with my entire being and I would do anything to protect you and I would give my life for you," Leonidas assured her.

"You always know the right thing to say to make me feel better. You know, we could just skip school for the say and head to the lake. Does that sound like something we could do? Maybe have some fun while we're at it?" she asks.

"Do you really even need to ask that?" he laughed. "Let's go!"

Cassandra cut the wheel hard to the left and began heading towards her family's lake house at Lake Mead. "I've never seen you in a mood like this before, but I'm not complaining."

 _ **Redstone High**_

Lily Ponsta was walking to high school for her last first day of high school, when her best friend since the 3rd grade came skating up behind her.

"Hey Lil!" Cedric Humphries yelled. Lily jumped at the sudden surprise, dropping her schoolbooks and her purse.

"Cedric, you scared the crap out of me!" she gasped as Cedric circled around her laughing. "I hate it when you do that!"

"I know," he laughed. He stopped skating long enough to help her pick up her books. "Were you able to get that summer project Mr. Pasqual assigned you?"

"Yeah. Spent my entire summer vacation working on it. My mother was always telling me to take a break and spend time with my friends, but I wanted to get the work done. But there's something that I couldn't figure out. He tasked me with developing a piece of technology that could enhance a person's natural abilities to peak performance. What was the reason for it?" she answered.

"Eh, who knows? At least I could help you with some of the blueprints and get that technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way, it's all good. Do you have them with you by any chance?" Cedric smiled. Lily looked around quickly and pulled a metal case out of her backpack.

"I call them the Phalanx Watches," she grinned and opened the case. Resting inside the case, were five bulky watches with black displays and were individually colored; red, blue, green, yellow and black.

Cedric's face brightened at the sight of them.

"Lil, do you think that these aren't just any old normal watches for physical enhancement but morphers?" he asked.

"Are you talking about morphers as in Power Morphers to become Power Rangers?' Lily inquired. "Do you realize how crazy that sounds?"

"Do you realize that it could be a possibility?"

"Yes. But don't think we will become Rangers. I mean yes, we are brave and can face danger head-on, but that doesn't mean anything," Lily replied.

"Yeah, you might be right. Anyway, let's get to school and find Mr. Pasqual before class starts," Cedric finished. They then walked together side by side and didn't give a second thought to the shadowy creature that was slinking around the bushes.

 _ **Redstone Manor**_

Dorian Redstone III, the biggest outcast at Redstone High. Just because he was the richest person at school, and the school was named after his family didn't mean he should be treated differently from everyone else.

"Joshua, couldn't you just let me take the bus this morning?" he asked his driver.

"I'm sorry, Master Redstone. But I am not allowed to let you take any other mode of transportation anywhere. By order of your father," Joshua answered.

"He might be my father and the CEO of Redstone Industries, but that does not mean he can control every aspect of my life. All I want is to be normal!" Dorian argued.

"I'm sorry, Dorian, but it does."

"Whatever," Dorian scoffed as he climbed into the backseat of the Rolls-Royce.

 _ **Lake Mead**_

Cassandra and Leonidas had just arrived at her family's lake house when it began to thunder and lightning. They ran inside as fast as they could to avoid the rain.

"Shoot! And I wanted this day to be so romantic! Just the two of us spending time with each other," Cassandra began to cry. Leonidas pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead.

"It still can be…" Leonidas began. He placed his hand underneath her halter-top and began to lift it up over her head. He did the same to himself. Both of their shirts fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Cassandra unhooked her red lace bra, letting it fall off and allowing her dark hair to drape over her firm and supple D-cup breasts.

"I love you Leonidas," Cassandra whispered. Leonidas had carried her upstairs and laid her down on her parents' bed. Taking off the rest of their clothes, he laid down next to her as well.

"I love you too, Cassandra," he whispered back. Pressing his lips to hers, they kissed passionately as Leonidas rolled over on top of Cassandra, and penetrated her tight pussy with his throbbing cock.

 _ **Redstone High**_

"…C'mon Cedric, the bell is going to ring any second and we still need to find Mr. Pasqual!" Lily shouted. She rounded the corner and bumped into the very man she was looking for, blushing a deep red when she realized it. "Oh, my gosh. Mr. Pasqual, I am so sorry! I was looking for you and I guess I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"Lily…wait…up!" Cedric said out of breath as he finally caught up to her.

"Lily, I believe you have something for me?" Mr. Pasqual asked. Lily nodded and handed Mr. Pasqual the metal case, smiling.

"Mr. Pasqual, Cedric and I spent much of our summer vacation working on this. Could you please give us a little insight as to what it was for?" Lily asked.

"Come to the Caves after school and I will you. Bring Mr. Humphries, Ms. Skyes, Mr. Florian and Mr. Redstone with you. Now class is about to start, so I suggest that you find your first period before Mrs. Pontalimou gets mad and decides to stalk the halls again," he explained.

"Thank you, Mr. Pasqual," Lily finished and dragged Cedric into their Spanish class. They found Dorian sitting in the back of the classroom by himself.

"Hey Dorian! How was your summer bro?" Cedric asked.

"Doesn't matter. Just being the son of a business mogul doesn't seem to get any better. What about you?" Dorian replied.

"Same old, same old. My mom and I went to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle. That's about it," Cedric explained. Their teacher, Mr. Cortez, walked in and began to write on the whiteboard.

"Good morning class, welcome to AP Spanish," he said happily.

 _ **Modern Day Iran**_

A few miles underground, a team of archaeologists had been excavating the ruins of Babylon for the past six years. Professor Brun, a professor of archaeology and ancient civilizations, was the head of the dig and a team had just uncovered what seemed to be a prison of sorts with strange ancient symbols etched into the walls. In the middle of the prison-like room, stood a solid black urn.

"Extraordinary. See if you can get this open! Hurry up!" he shouted in the miners' native language. They immediately set to prying the top of the urn open. It only took a matter of minutes before they all heard the hiss of thousands'-year-old air spewing out of the top. The cover of the urn blasted off and smoke filled the room. All the miners' ran out of the room screaming about curses and death. "Superstitious peasants…"

"Who is the most intelligent of this group?" a demonic voice asked.

"That would be me. I am Professor Arduino Brun, professor of Archaeology and Ancient Civilizations at Harvard University. Who may I be addressing?" he answered.

"I am the God-King Xerxes! Ruler of Ancient Babylon! You have freed me from this accursed prison! You now have the distinct honor of becoming my vessel for the world!" the demonic voice roared. Lightning spewed out of the urn, and tendrils of it began to course through Professor Brun's body. A black cloud of dust floated out of the urn and passed through his body, causing him to convulse. The lightning disappeared and Professor Brun collapsed. His eyes shot open and changed from a darkish-amber color to blood-red. Gone was the man known as Professor Brun, he had been transformed into Xerxes.

"I am finally free! This world shall now be mine!" he screamed. He blasted out into the open air and raised his hands. The clouds darkened and lightning struck the ground where the Ancient City of Babylon used to be, causing a crack to appear in the Earth. A majestic stone palace rose from the bowels of the Earth and ascended high into the sky. "Persia shall live again. It is time to raise my generals from their eternal sleep and begin my revenge!"

Xerxes jumped into the sky and the storm subsided. The miners' were on their knees praying to their respective gods, begging for mercy from the impending apocalypse.

 _ **Caves**_

Deep inside the Caves: a tourist attraction for the citizens of Nevada, a technologically advanced room sprang to life and alarms began to sound.

"Trojan! What is going on?" a spectral voice asked.

"I don't know my king! It appears that a great otherworldly force of energy has surged in Iran!" a robotic voice shouted.

"Xerxes. Trojan, bring me five people with the skills and attitude to defeat this evil," the voice spoke again.

"Not…teenagers?" Trojan questioned worriedly.

"Yes…teenagers!" the voice assured. Trojan shook his head and went to work looking for the five teenagers that would save the world.


	3. Chapter Two: The Spartan Force

CHAPTER TWO: THE SPARTAN FORCE

 _ **Lake Mead**_

Cassandra was standing in front of the mirror in her red lace bra and matching thong, looking at how fit and toned her body was. She smiled when she realized that Leonidas was staring at her, endearingly.

"How did I get so lucky?" Cassandra asked.

"I have no clue. I ask myself that question every day I see you. To me you are an angel sent from heaven," Leonidas replied.

"Aww!" Cassandra exclaimed. Leonidas stood up and grabbed her ass, lifting her up and she wrapped her tan slender legs around him as they locked in a passionate kiss.

"I don't want to lose you, Cassandra. I love you," Leonidas said in between kisses.

"You never will. It's noon already, we might as well skip the rest of the day. Let's just spend the rest of the day together. Let's go skinny-dipping!" she suggested.

"I second that idea," Leonidas agreed as they both laughed. They ran out of the lake house and down to the edge of the dock.

"You first, babe!" Cassandra laughed as she pushed Leonidas in.

"Not so fast, Cassandra!" Leonidas laughed as he pulled Cassandra in with him.

"Leonidas, I love you!" Cassandra screamed. They embraced in the water and began to make out, not giving a second thought to the outside world. All that mattered at that point in time was their love.

 _ **Red Stone High**_

The bell rang and Lily, Cedric and Dorian started heading towards the cafeteria for lunch.

"Man, I can't believe Ms. Airom gave us so much work to do. I mean, I know we have mid-terms in two months' time, but damn!" Cedric said as they walked down the hallway.

"I agree Cedric, but you have to understand where she is coming from. All she wants is for us to succeed. And you need to think, maybe all of this extra work will help prepare us for our tests?" Lily countered. They rounded the corner and entered the cafeteria.

"I wonder where Cassandra and Leonidas are. It's not like them to skip an entire day of school," Dorian questioned.

"If we are their friends at all, we know where they both are. Cassandra's lake house," Lily answered.

"That makes sense. They are extremely lucky to have each other," Cedric added. "Hey, Dorian you go on. Save us a seat."

"You got it man," Dorian replied and walked away. Lily looked at Cedric and was about to ask what was going on, when he pulled her around the corner.

"Ced, what are you doing?" I'm actually pretty hungry today," Lily questioned.

"I know, Lil, but this will only take a second. Lily, we've been friends, best friends since the third grade and over the past year and a half, I realized I've developed romantic feelings for you. I was wary of telling you, because I didn't want it to jeopardize our friendship. Sounds kind of weird, right?" Cedric explained. Lily opened her mouth to say something but thought against it and just simply crossed her arms.

"Cedric, listen to me. You are a wonderful guy and an amazing friend. You've been there for me, through thick and thin and always have my back no matter what. I'll be lucky in the future to be with a guy like you, but I can't reciprocate your feelings. I think it's best if we just remain friends," Lily explained. She kissed Cedric softly on the cheek and gave him a sad smile. Walking in to the cafeteria, she left Cedric standing in the hallway against the lockers.

 _ **The Caves**_

"My King! I've found the five teenagers. They all attend an institution called Redstone High in Reno, Nevada. Would you like me to bring them here?" Trojan asked.

"Not quite yet. I would like to see how they know each other. Wait until Xerxes sends his foot soldiers to attack," the voice answered.

 _ **Lake Mead**_

Cassandra and Leonidas had just returned to the lake house, when an earthquake began to shake the foundations of the house. Cassandra screamed in fear. She grabbed onto Leonidas and held on for dear life, digging her nails into his skin.

"Leonidas, don't let go!" she cried. Leonidas felt warmth on his skin. Looking down, he saw three small trails of blood trickling down from Cassandra's nails.

"I promise I will never let go," Leonidas replied. He grabbed ahold of Cassandra's waist and they hunkered down underneath the stairs in a linen closet. Ten minutes later, the shaking had stopped but Cassandra was still quietly sobbing and shaking in Leonidas' arms. He began to rub her back and softly stroke her hair. "Hey, it's over. You're safe."

Cassandra lifted her head and found his lips, interlocking hers with his.

"I love you, Leonidas Florian. Never leave me," she whispered.

"I won't," Leonidas told her. "Come on, let's go get dressed and meet everyone at the J-Force Café."

"Okay baby," Cassandra said as she gave Leonidas a quick kiss and got off him. "I have a change of clothes upstairs for the both of us, along with a few extra items. Come on up when you are ready."

She winked at him and walked up the stairs, trying to avoid the broken glass that covered some of the steps. Moments later, Leonidas walked into the master bedroom and watched as Cassandra slipped on a lacy blue G-string and a black lace bra. She smiled when she realized that Leonidas was watching her.

"You are so beautiful, Cassandra," Leonidas spoke. Cassandra slid on a blue mini-skirt with a white top and blue heels.

"You'd better get dressed Leonidas. I made reservations for us at the best restaurant in town. And I also talked both of our parents into letting us go to Las Vegas for the summer. They paid for everything and even got us the Presidential Suite at Caesar's Palace. We'll be partying all day and night in the City of Sin. But tonight, we are going to Rosita's and I want the night to be special," Cassandra explained.

"You are amazing," Leonidas replied. He glanced over at the bed and picked up a red silk dress shirt, black slacks, and a black vest. In a matter of minutes, he looked like an American business mogul.

"You look stunning," Cassandra said smiling. "One more thing…"

She handed Leonidas a black wooden box and smiled again. "I hope you like them. I know the maker personally; he is a family friend."

Leonidas opened the box and all anyone could hear was a gasp and then the sound of laughter. He held up a pair of square-toed leather cowboy boots with a thin red stripe down the side.

"Cassandra. These are Giorgio Armani Cruisers. I've wanted these for the longest time. How did you know?" Leonidas asked.

"Your mother gave me the idea. She says that you have been saving the money up for quite some time now. Happy Birthday, Leonidas," Cassandra said cheerily. Leon placed the box at the end of the bed and slid the boots on his feet. "Perfection."

"I have something for you. I wasn't saving up money for the boots. I was saving the money for you," Leonidas said truthfully. "The last time we were here together, I hid it and I wanted to wait till the perfect time to give it to you. Both your parents and mine know about it."

He pulled back a picture frame and started fiddling with a safe. With a small click, Leonidas opened the safe and pulled out a small black box. Just as he was about to say what he wanted to say, Cassandra and he disappeared from the entire lake house.

 _ **J-Force Café 20 minutes earlier**_

Dorian, Lily and Cedric were relaxing at their favorite after school spot, the J-Force Café just talking about random shit.

"So, Dorian, what exactly is your father doing buying up all this land south of the city of Baghdad?" Cedric asked.

"I don't know much. Dad doesn't really divulge company information to me very often. Doesn't think I am ready for it. But on the rare occasions where I do get to eavesdrop on his business meetings, I can discern rare tidbits of information. Apparently, he is planning the construction of a city in the sky. Basically, from what he says, our planet is on the verge of extinction and he wants to save it. And to do that only a maximum of five million people will be welcome in 'Avalon City'," Dorian explained.

"That is absolutely brilliant!" Lily laughed. "A strange proposal to save the human civilization but brilliant nonetheless."

It was at that moment an earthquake hit, and Xerxes' plan went into action.

Undead Persian soldiers fell from the sky led by a monster that went by the name, Furcula, who could shoot ectoplasmic goo that rendered those struck with it unconscious and powerless.

"It feels so good to be back on Earth! Lord Xerxes will be pleased when we take this planet for him with no resistance! Destroy everything and retrieve the elements!" Furcula yelled. The Persians began to raid the city and lay waste to everything. Dorian, Lily and Cedric noticed people running and screaming outside.

"I wonder what's going on out there?" Cedric asked. Let's go see."

All three of them ran out of the café to witness the destruction firsthand. Police were behind blockades emptying out their clips trying to stop the destruction and prevent serious loss of life.

"What the hell is going on?" Dorian yelled over the explosions.

"Run, mortals, RUN!" HA HA HA!" Furcula laughed. He began to shoot out ectoplasm and civilians dropped like flies, their skin the color of concrete.

"Come on guys. We have to help them!" Cedric shouted. Lily and Dorian nodded their heads and joined the fight. All three of them happened to be masters of jujitsu, Tae Kwan Do, karate and MMA.

"Hey ugly! What do you think you are doing?" Dorian asked.

"Flee tiny mortal!" You don't want to meddle in the affairs of the Great Xerxes!" Furcula laughed. Dorian, Lily and Cedric faded away from the scene of the battle and reappeared in the Caves.

 _ **The Caves**_

"Lily, where are we?" Dorian inquired.

"I don't know, Dorian," Lily answered. They heard rustling around the corner and took up a defensive fighting position.

"Lily, Dorian is that you?" Leonidas asked.

"Leonidas? What are you doing here?" Lily called back.

"We were about to ask you the same question," Cassandra called back. "Where's Cedric?"

"Right here," he groaned. He walked up into the light and pulled a bloody hand from the back of his head.

"Are you okay, Ced?" Lily asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Come on, let's go see if we are able to find a way out," Cedric assured her. He took her hand with his non-bloody one and interlocked their fingers together. If there was more illumination along the walls of the Caves, the others would have seen Lily blush. Leonidas began to lead them to find a way out.

After what seemed to be like an hour, Dorian fell into the darkness. All they could hear were his screams.

"Dorian!" Leonidas yelled. At that very moment, the floor of the cave gave way and everybody fell into the darkness. Leonidas fell onto a white circle and glanced around, noticing machinery and the rest of his friends lying on similar white circles.

"Leonidas, where are we?" Cassandra asked.

"I haven't the foggiest, Cassandra. "It seems that we have fallen into an underground base of some kind," Leonidas answered. Lily stood up and started investigating the machinery.

"Strange. I've only seen symbols like these one other time. I saw them in a book concerning Greek mythology. They look like they are almost 3000 years old. Back to the time of Alexander the Great and the Gods," she reasoned while twisting a dial. The machinery whirred to life and the room lit up. Blue spectral light flew into the room and began forming into a man.

"Stand back, I'll handle this!" Leonidas ordered.

"As if! We are all a team Leonidas! We fight together!" Cassandra answered. The blue spectral form had finished forming into a man, and the group now stood in front of the greatest king the world had ever known.

"Greetings mortals. I bet you are wondering where you are and why you are here. I also think you would like to know who I am?" the form asked.

"Yeah, we are," Cedric retorted.

"Well, young ones. It has been many a moon since I have been able to talk to anybody other than Trojan. My name is Alexander of Macedonia. However, history books would rather call me Alexander the Great. You are in the Power Chamber. The home and training grounds of the Power Rangers," Alexander explained.

"No way! See Lily? I told you there was a reason Mr. Pasqual had you create those watches!" Cedric shouted with glee. Trojan walked out of the shadows holding a steel case.

"Mr. Pasqual?" Lily asked.

"Yes, Ms. Ponsta. However, here I am known as Trojan. I was created to assist Alexander monitor the world, and help defend it if the need ever arose. The reason you are here is because out of everybody in the known world, you five have demonstrated the characteristics of a team that has saved the world from evil time and time again. 3000 years ago, Alexander slayed the tyrant Xerxes and assumed the throne of Babylon and thus became the new King of Persia. Xerxes' final words before he died were all garbled and could not be understood, but we are both sure that he swore he would return from the Underworld and unleash Hades' on Earth. It seems that it has become a reality and his minions are now wreaking havoc. The police and military are doing their best to fend them off, but it is futile without The Power. That's why you all are here. To become Power Rangers and finally banish Xerxes to the Underworld for good," Mr. Pasqual explained.

He opened up the metal case and revealed the Phalanx watches to the group of stunned individuals.

"Trojan, would you like me to explain why each of them have been chosen?" Alexander asked.

"It would be my honor, my liege," Mr. Pasqual answered.

"Leonidas, step forward. For your undying faith in the existence of a team and always having a strategy as well as never letting your friends down, you will become the Red Spartan Force Ranger," Alexander explained. Mr. Pasqual handed Leonidas the Red Phalanx Morpher and shook his hand. Leonidas slipped the morpher onto his wrist and immediately felt a surge of power. He saw images of the mythical Dragon Phoenix and part of his really weird dream again. Stumbling back a bit, he fell into Cassandra's arms.

"I love you, Red Ranger," Cassandra whispered into his ear along with a few other naughty choice words.

"Cassandra, please step forward. For your fieriness and tenacity to always motivate your friends and get them into shape when your leader isn't around is a big thing. You will be second-in-command and will formally be known as the Blue Spartan Force Ranger," Alexander explained as she slipped her morpher on.

"One after another, everybody was given the reason why they were chosen to become a ranger. Cedric, Lily, and Dorian became the Black, Yellow, and Green Rangers respectively.

"Alexander, perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us why we should be concerned with the second coming of Xerxes," Dorian asked with a slightly cocky attitude. The calm and docile spirit of Alexander the Great became the angry spirit of a betrayed king.

"Imagine the world going up in flames. All the world's oceans, lakes and rivers reduced to dust. Your families working as slaves just to avoid execution from his tyrannical Imperial Guard, no hope for mankind, the end of the world," Alexander screeched. Machines were rattling and there was a certain weird feeling in the air, like electricity.

"I wouldn't want to make him mad, Dorian. It is said that he is the son of Zeus," Cedric reasoned. Dorian nodded his head to try and get the situation back under control. The tension was eased.

"Now, if you are done being cocky and disrespectful, I believe there is some chaos ensuing downtown and I think you five are needed. Trojan?" Alexander calmly said. Trojan pressed a button on the main console and a viewing screen sprang to life.

"Rangers. As you can see here, Xerxes has implemented his plan and begun laying waste to the Earth in order to achieve becoming a god. Furcula, is one of his main generals; he has the ability to shoot ectoplasmic slime at his enemies rendering them unconscious and if they are not saved within a two-hour window, their life force will be gone forever, and Xerxes will absorb that strength. You understand what your mission is from here on out?" Trojan explained.

Leonidas stepped forward and looked like the leader he was born to be.

"Yes, sir. I believe we do," he proudly stated. Trojan activated the morphers and the five teenagers teleported back to Reno, Nevada.

 _ **Reno, Nevada**_

Furcula was running around with a bunch of the Persians, knocking normal civilians out cold, laughing his ass off.

"HA! SO MUCH FUN! Haven't been able to cause this much chaos in over 3000 years!" he laughed. He shot an ectoplasmic blast at a skyscraper in the distance and jumped in the air as a big chunk of girders, mortar and glass fell to the ground below.

Leonidas, Cassandra, Lily, Cedric and Dorian materialized in front of Furcula and began to kick the crud out of the Persians.

"Phalanx formation, team!" Leonidas shouted. The group of civilians made a shape with their fists and punched in a code on the Phalanx Morphers.

"Phalanx Mode, ready!" the group shouted. "Go, go, Spartan Force!"

One by one, each of the team went through their morphing sequence. Leonidas looked at himself and was amazed at the red armored suit and metal attachments that adorned his body.

"I look like Leonidas from the times of old!" he shouted. His helmet was in the shape of a dragon with a blacked out visor. "This is so sick!" He glanced over at Cassandra, who was wearing a light blue skin-tight armored suit with white leggings, and a blue skirt, with a silver arm coil in the shape of a hydra. Her helmet had the five heads of a hydra on it with a black visor. Lily was adorned in a yellow armored suit with blackened onyx adornments and a helmet designed to look like a hawk with a black visor. Cedric was in an armored suit just like Leonidas', except it was black and his helmet was designed to look like the Scorpion. Dorian was a quite smaller than the others, but his suit was no different. Green and armored with a helmet designed to look like Cerberus.

"Spartan Rangers ready!" they shouted. "Defenders of the Ancient World!"

Furcula only laughed.

"You think some pretty colors and armored suits are going to protect you from the fury that is Lord Xerxes?" he asked sarcastically.

"Not only that. But we have the skills and power to prove it. Xerxes won't be around very long to do any real damage!" Dorian shouted.

"Yeah, bring on the bad guys!" Cassandra said confidently.

'Persians, destroy them," Furcula ordered. Hundreds of Persian soldiers came up from the cracks in the Earth with blood dripping from wounds in their heads and bones poking through on some of them. They rushed the team of Rangers with jagged swords, broken lances, and other weapons. The Rangers who were vastly knowledgeable in the sparring arts were able to hold their own. Leonidas took a group down with a mixture of Jujitsu and a form of Tae Kwon Do.

"Ha! Ha! Hee-ya! Ya'll are going to learn not to mess with us!" Leonidas cheered. He knocked the group back towards a wall and went to help his friends. "You ladies need any help?" he said as he landed in the middle of Cassandra and Lily.

"What took you so long?" Cassandra yelled. Leonidas, Cedric and Dorian jumped into the fight and did all they were able to, but sadly ended up being overpowered. All five rangers were knocked out of the way and landed on the ground.

"Hey Leonidas! It would be nice if we had something to fight these creeps with!" Dorian groaned standing up.

"It'd be nice," Cedric added. Leonidas looked at his team and made the call. Wincing, he pressed his watch and a holographic image of Trojan popped up.

"Rangers? What can I help you with?" he asked.

"Are there any weapons that could possibly help us in a fight?" Leonidas answered.

"Enter in combination Bravo-Bravo-Echo-Foxtrot," Trojan replied. The image disappeared and the other Rangers looked at him with hope. Leonidas entered the passcode into his morpher and the Dragon Phoenix sword appeared into his hand.

"Wicked," he mouthed. Swinging the sword in his hand back and forth, he could feel the power coursing through the blade. "It's incredibly balanced." Cassandra and Lily entered in their own passcodes and the Hydra Bow and Lightning Daggers came to their respective owners. Cedric held up the Scorpion Hammer while Dorian tossed his Cerberus grenades back and forth.

The Persians bum-rushed the team once more, but were not expecting them to be wielding weapons this time. Leonidas and Lily stood back to back and chopped and slashed through any Persian that dared come their way. Cassandra broke open the top of a nearby fire hydrant, and jumped on top of the water jet, loosing arrows at the heads of Persian soldiers. Cedric and Dorian were working together. Cedric was sending a couple of Persians flying at a time, while Dorian would throw a grenade in the air and watch as Cerberus would tear them up.

Soon the entire group of Persians were gone or in the process of turning into dust. Furcula screamed in fury.

"You meddlesome mortals! You won't get in the way of me!" he screamed. Furcula grew to the size of a skyscraper. "Try and stop me now!"

"Zulu-Golf-Tango-Whiskey," Trojan garbled out of the Phalanx Morphers. The Rangers entered in the code and a holographic image of the Dragon Phoenix, Hydra, Thunder Bird, Scorpion and Cerberus Zords popped up and disappeared.

Off in the distance, the Rangers could see the Zords running/flying towards them.

"No freaking way!" Cedric shouted. All the Rangers jumped into their Zords respective cockpits and locked themselves in.

"Dragon Phoenix online," said Leonidas.

'Hydra online," said Cassandra.

"Thunder Bird online," said Lily.

"Scorpion online," said Cedric.

"Cerberus online," shouted Dorian.

"Still puny!" Furcula yelled. He swiped his fist in the air towards the Zords.

"Scatter!" Leonidas ordered. All the Zords went in different directions and avoided the gigantic fist connecting with the scaffolding of an unfinished building, bringing it crashing down in the process.

"Rangers, form the Spartan Megazord!" Alexander spoke.

"Ready team?" Leonidas asked.

"Ready!" everyone responded.

"Spartan Megazord combination!" the team shouted. One by one, the Zords changed and interlocked with one another. "Spartan Megazord Ready! We're bringing the fight to you!" they yelled.

"Dragon Fire Blast!" Leonidas yelled. A fiery ballistic blast flew out of the front of the Megazord and collided with Furcula. "Direct hit!"

Furcula jumped in the air angrily and shot several ectoplasmic blasts at the Megazord. "Move, Move, Move!" Leonidas and Cassandra screamed. The Megazord couldn't move fast enough and every blast connected with it, sending the massive machine down to the ground.

"Looks like the gigantic tin can isn't so mighty after all!" Furcula laughed. The team maneuvered the operational controls and got the Megazord back up.

"Scorpion Sword!" Cedric ordered. The Megazord reached behind the back and withdrew the other half of the Scorpion Zord and turned it into a long sword. "Lightning Strike Attachment!"

One of the wings from the Thunderbird Zord attached to the Scorpion Sword, turning it into the Lightning Scorpion Sword.

"What do you plan on doing with that can opener?" Furcula laughed.

"We'll show you what we can do with it! Scorpion Slash!" Cedric yelled. The Megazord rushed forward and performed three passes on Furcula landing six blows. Furcula looked like he was about to lose but continued to fire his ectoplasm.

"Is that all you got?" he struggled to get out.

"Nope. Spartan Strike Final Damnation!" Lily shouted. They threw the Lightning Scorpion Sword into the air and controlled their own individual Zords. The Scorpion Zord fired poison at the sword and it turned green. The Dragon Phoenix fired a Dragon Blast at the sword, which turned it black. The Hydra Zord breathed blue fire at the sword turning it pale white. A Cerberus head floated up and attached to the bottom of the sword. The sword then flew at high speed towards Furcula, and straight through him until he began to fall.

"Xerxes, forgive me!" he yelled as he exploded.

"Spartan Rangers, we're in the gods' favor!" Leonidas cheered.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes had been watching the entire fight and was astounded that anybody could withstand the might of him.

"How dare these mortals deny me my right to return to Earth? I am a god in my own right! This is planet is mine!" he screamed. He saw a group of Persian soldiers just standing around and he blasted them into molten slag. "CHI-LA!"

An elderly man hobbled towards Xerxes and bowed.

"My King. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"I want you to start raising up my generals and beasts to battle these…these Power Rangers! NOW!" Xerxes yelled.

"Yes, my King," Chi-La answered and hobbled away.

"Rangers…probably Alexander's idea to oppose me," Xerxes muttered.

 _ **Reno, Nevada**_

Leonidas, Cassandra, Lily, Cedric & Dorian were walking back to J-Force Café when the Phalanx Morphers went off.

"What is it, Trojan?" Leonidas asked.

"Just called to congratulate you on your first win of many against Xerxes. Now remember, he will test you five and it will not be easy to say the least. Are you up to the challenge?" Trojan asked.

"Yes we are," Leonidas answered.

"Have a good day," Trojan added and left. Dorian looked at everybody and laughed.

"Can you believe the day we've had? It was so awesome!"

Leonidas looked at his watch and almost fainted.

"Cassandra, we're going to be late. Our reservations are in fifteen minutes! Your car is at your lake house," he explained.

"Don't worry babe! Rosita's is just down the road from here," she answered. Cedric pulled Leonidas to the side and looked at him concerned.

"Are you planning on proposing to Cassandra tonight?" he whispered.

"Yeah. We've been dating each other for a few years, and we really think we have found our soul mate in each other," Leonidas answered.

"Good luck," Cedric added and walked towards Lily.

"Hey…" Lily said quietly, looking at the ground while shuffling her feet. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier, and I would happily be your girlfriend."

Cedric smiled and placed a hand on her soft cheek, and placed a soft kiss on her sweet and tender lips.

Cassandra and Leonidas began to walk towards the restaurant.

 _ **3 hours later…**_

Cassandra and Leonidas were sitting in their own private dining room being serenaded by a female Italian singer.

"It's amazing that we have known each other for years. I love you Leonidas," Cassandra whispered. She took a sip of champagne and laughed. Leonidas was turning the little black box in his hand over and over.

"Cassandra?" he asked.

"Yes?" she answered.

"You are right in saying we have known each other for years. We were at separate schools and rivals, but I always saw you cheering me on from the sidelines. You are the best thing that has happened to me and I wouldn't trade any moment we have shared for anything," he explained.

"Leonidas…" Cassandra began to say.

"I'm not done Cassandra…" he cut her off. He pulled out the black box and got down on one knee. "I've thought about this constantly and wondered if I was making the right decision, and I know I have. There is no one in this world I would rather spend the rest of my mortal life with. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked. Leonidas opened the box and revealed a 24-karat diamond ring set in white gold accented by blue sapphire.

Tears came to Cassandra's eyes and she came down to Leonidas.

"I love you and yes, I will marry you," she whispered and kissed Leonidas in a passionate kiss. Leonidas took the ring and slid it on to her finger and stood up.

"I love you, Cassandra Sykes," he told her. "Watch this." He plugged in coordinates on his morpher and activated the teleportation system. "Hold on to me."

Cassandra grabbed ahold of Leonidas' waist and closed her eyes as she felt a tugging sensation deep in her gut as she disappeared and reappeared on a beach somewhere in Rio de Janeiro.

"That felt extremely weird, Leonidas," she gasped. She looked around and almost fainted but Leonidas caught her.

"What's wrong?" Leonidas asked.

"I forgot my parents were going to be here for a week or so, as a kind of second honeymoon. Should we go somewhere else?" she explained.

"No problem. My place or your place?" Leonidas reasoned.

"Yours," she said. Cassandra held on again and watched as the beach melted away and was replaced by the inside of Leonidas' room.

"The night is ours…" Leonidas whispered and embraced Cassandra in a fiery passionate kiss.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes was watching exactly what was happening between the Rangers.

"Interesting. This could be used to my advantage," he muttered.

 _ **Redstone Manor**_

Dorian was in his practice dojo, going through the motions of all his fighting styles when he sensed someone was watching.

"You must be Xerxes. What can I do for you?"


	4. Chapter Three: Everything Changes

CHAPTER THREE: EVERYTHING CHANGES

Cedric woke up the next morning in Lily's bed with his arm around her.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered softly. She smiled as Cedric placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"Do we have to end this moment?" Lily moaned.

"The homeroom bell doesn't go off until seven-thirty…" Cedric said sneakily. He rolled on top of Lily and began to kiss her neck, ample C-cup breasts, stomach, legs, inner thigh and right above her sweet, juicy folds.

"Please don't tease me, Cedric," Lily moaned softly. Cedric placed his tongue into Lily's clit and he felt her tense up. Smiling, he made his tongue dart in and out as he bit down softly and began to suck on the hidden rose bud within. Lily let out a soft scream. Cedric picked up the pace and Lily began to shake.

"Oh…baby, I'm going to cum," she groaned. A few moments later, Lily let her juices spill all over Cedric's face. "Sorry, baby…" Lily gasped.

"Don't be, I love your essence on me," Cedric laughed as he lifted his head and positioned his cock outside of Lily's wet pussy and eased it inside. "Oh my God!"

"You are incredibly tight, Lil!" grunted Cedric. He went faster and faster until Lily moved on top and started to grind on Cedric's throbbing cock.

"Lily, I'm going to cum!" he yelled.

"So am I! Give it to me, Cedric! Give it all to me!" Lily screamed. "Oh God, yes! You're so big!"

Cedric began to thrust up into Lily and yelled when he released a torrent of his seed into her depths, which caused Lily to fall into her own climax and cum all over Cedric's cock. They both moaned loudly as they finished.

Lily lifted herself off Cedric's softening cock and gave it a quick lick, lying down next to her boyfriend. "I love you Cedric."

"I love you too, Lily," Cedric responded. "We should probably go clean ourselves up. I don't think we should be smelling like hot sex at school."

"Good idea," Lily retorted. She gave Cedric a quick kiss and walked to the shower.

 _ **2 hours later…**_

 _ **Redstone High**_

Cedric and Leonidas were sitting in their English class bored out of their minds, while their teacher tried to teach the uninterested students about Macbeth.

"Cedric?" Leonidas asked.

"Yeah, man?" Cedric answered through half-closed eyes.

"How long have you and Lily been…together?" Leonidas continued to question.

"We just started dating," Cedric told his friend.

"Ah. You hit it yet?" Leonidas joked.

"A true gentleman never kisses and tells," Cedric laughed. "Nah, but forreal dog, we got down and dirty last night and this morning before school!"

Their English teacher looked at them, scowling and stopped the class.

"Mr. Florian and Mr. Humphries! Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling the class one of Lady Macbeth's lines in the play?" she asked.

"Out damn spot, out!" Cedric answered.

"At least you are paying attention. Now stop talking and follow along with the class!" she scolded.

"Yes, Ms. McLaughlin. Sorry, ma'am," Cedric said quietly. Leonidas was quietly laughing to himself and didn't notice that Cedric was literally eye-fucking his very soul. Elsewhere in the school, Cassandra and Lily were currently running laps around the outside track in gym, trading gossip with each other.

"Cassandra? Can I ask you something?" Lily inquired.

"Sure, hon. What's on your mind?" Cassandra answered.

"How long was it before you and Leonidas slept with each other?" Lily continued.

"Well we've known each other forever, even though we attended different schools until the beginning of this school year. When we started dating, it was apparent from the beginning that we both wanted each other. We haven't had a problem with it since. Why?" Cassandra explained.

"Well, Cedric and I just started dating and last night we slept with each other and this morning we made love again. Cedric is a really cool guy and all, but I just don't want this advanced speed to wreck a life-long friendship and make things awkward between us," Lily explained.

Cassandra stopped running and pulled Lily close.

"Listen. Leonidas and I, we have this connection between us and we did the same thing. Sure we may fight sometimes, but we would never think about leaving each other. You and Cedric have been best friends since the 3rd grade and you have this special bond between the two of you. Nothing in this world should ever have so much weight on a relationship, that it makes them end in tears and heartache," Cassandra explained in-depth. "But look!" she whispered as she held up her left hand and showed Lily the massive ring on her finger. Lily gasped and jumped up and down with joy.

"Shut up! He proposed?" Lily squealed.

"Yep. Last night at Rosita's," Cassandra giggled.

"Oh my God! You two are so perfect for each other. Have you started planning your wedding yet? I better be one of the bridesmaids!" Lily squealed again.

"Our parents don't even know yet. Or maybe they do. Leonidas is way too good at keeping secrets. I was able to talk them into letting us go to Vegas for the summer. I won't be too concerned with wedding plans right now, but I'm going to work on the intricate details. I'm definitely going to be bringing you along when I go dress shopping, Lily," Cassandra finished.

"Awesome! We should keep running because ol' Sustache is beginning to give us the evil eye. I'll text you later, okay?" Lily spoke. She took off as fast as a bolt of lightning, leaving Cassandra in the dust.

"Whoa. How did she…" Cassandra began. She started jogging after her best friend, struggling to catch up to her. "God, she is fast!"

Now normally, Dorian would be in his business class, but today he was sitting in the shadows of the bleachers chanting some sort of summoning spell in Ancient Persian.

"I am Dorian Redstone, loyal to the immortal Lord Xerxes. I pledge my life to his cause and if I falter or fail, I give my life to him. Open the portal to BABYLON!" he chanted. A temporal distortion materialized, and Dorian walked through, arriving in the courtyard of an ancient palace. Spotting the throne room, he began to walk towards it. On his way, he noticed guards were following close behind as he walked.

"Perhaps I should create a distraction for these guards," he thought to himself. All around him were undead Persians. Fiddling with his morpher, he dropped three Cerberus grenades and watched as three Cerberus exploded from the grenades and began wreaking havoc.

"What in the unholy…" the lead guard shouted. "Persians! To the courtyard!"

"What about the mortal?" one guard asked. He turned around to look at Dorian, but he was gone. All that the guard could see was a gigantic three- headed dog walking up the stone steps to the throne room. Upon reaching the door, he slowly turned back into himself.

"Although, I now have the strangest craving for raw meat," he muttered. Dorian began to open the door and was about to step over the threshold, when he was tackled by the guard who had followed him.

"Got you! Filthy mortal! We shall see what Xerxes has to say about you. Whether you live or die and spend an eternity in Hades!" the guard growled softly and intently.

He bound and gagged Dorian and just as an added measure, blindfolded him and pushed him in the direction he was trying to go. Dorian could feel the dark energy coursing through the place. He hoped he hadn't made a huge mistake.

The guard pushed him down on the floor and ripped the blindfold off.

"My Lord Xerxes. It appears as if a mortal has found its way onto Persian soil. What actions would you like me to take, to correct his misfortune? Xerxes melted out of the shadows and turned into a pale white, muscular man. His eyes burned bright red and Dorian felt his soul burning from the inside out.

A mortal? Please pray tell how a mortal managed to find his way to my magnificent palace?" Xerxes growled. He reached out and ripped the blindfold away from Dorian's face, scratching him in the process.

"My King. I do not know," the guard replied. Xerxes screamed and made a slashing motion with his hand. The guard looked at his chest and began to whimper. Dorian took notice that the guard was beginning to disintegrate and turn to dust. Within seconds, all that remained of the guard was a miniscule pile of dust. Dorian smiled and knelt on one knee.

"My Lord. I have come as you have ordered," he said lowly.

"And you have brought that of which I have required?" Xerxes growled again.

"The essence of all the Rangers, including my own," Dorian spoke. He held up a small sphere containing five colored wisps, floating about. Xerxes performed a summoning motion and the sphere flew into his hand.

"Now that I have this, I can destroy all that Alexander has created. I no longer need you," Xerxes laughed. He spoke softly, and the essence of Dorian floated out and formed into a perfect clone of him. "Meet Johnathan, the Green Chaotic Ranger. I bestow upon him the power of the Cyclops. Take care of this mortal, will you?"

"Yes, my Lord," Johnathan said as he placed his hands together and formed a glowing green orb of lightning. He shot it at Dorian who was blasted out the door, and landed inside the High Temple.

"Ugh. That's not very rewarding…" Dorian groaned until he noticed Xerxes standing over him.

"This clone and many others will be used in later battles against you. Goodbye, mortal," Xerxes growled. A distortion opened underneath Dorian and he fell through. Within mere minutes, Dorian flew out of the portal he had created and fell into the dirt. The portal disappeared while Dorian dusted off his pants.

"Well. That didn't work. I have given Xerxes the means to destroy us. It is up to me to right this wrong!" Dorian shouted. He thought back to the day before when he had officially become a Power Ranger…

"Dorian Redstone III. You have shown great prowess when faced with extreme adversity. In dire situations, you apply one of three faces and become a Cerberus. A ferocious and vicious warrior that will unleash the full nightmare of Hades upon its enemies, when challenged. For this you have been chosen to become the Green Cerberus Ranger. The Cerberus is extremely loyal and will never betray those closest to it."

Dorian sighed.

"You picked the wrong guy, Alexander," Dorian breathed. He programed his morpher and teleported back to the school.

Elsewhere, Cedric and Lily were in the science lab working on an algorithim to combine the Rangers' weapons in battle. There hadn't been much progress…

"What if you add the zero and carry the three and multiply it by the energy from the Morphing Grid?" Cedric asked. Lily raised her goggles and breathed out slowly. She plugged in the variation on the tablet she was holding and began the integration. After several failed attempts, she cried out.

"Damn it! There has got to be a way to do this!" she screamed. Cedric picked up the tablet and changed a few variables and reworked the formula.

"Try this," Cedric shrugged as he handed the tablet back to Lily. She hit the integrate button and waited for the failure but watched as the integration succeeded. On the screen the Rangers' weapons combined into a gigantic spear and fired an energy bolt at a simulated target.

"How did you do that?" Lily asked. Cedric shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "You are such a smartass!"

"We should go show the others," Cedric suggested. Lily nodded her head and they ran out of the lab. What they failed to take notice of was if there was a surge of power from the Morphing Grid, the Ranger's weapons would overload and potentially cause a mass explosion.

"Cedric Humphries and Lily Ponsta. You two have faced adversity head-on for years in your brief time on this planet. Both of you shall never work without the other by your side. Together, you are a true force to be reckoned with. For these qualities, Cedric, you shall become the Black Scorpion Ranger and, Lily, you shall become the Yellow Thunderbird Ranger. May the Power protect you."

Leonidas was walking down the street towards the gym to workout, when he took notice of a little girl crying on the sidewalk. Walking up to her, he offered his hand.

"Hey little girl, what's wrong?" he asked. The girl stopped crying enough to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I can't find my mommy. We went shopping and I was playing hide-and-seek and then I couldn't find her," she cried. Leonidas fiddled with his watch, producing a reddish-brown teddy bear and handed it to her.

"It's going to be okay," Leonidas assured her. He held out his hand and the girl grabbed ahold of it. "What's your name?"

"Sarah McAllister. I'm six years old," she answered. "Where are we going?"

"Well Sarah, we're going to a place where there is a bunch of really good people that can help," Leonidas replied.

"Okay. What's your name?" Sarah asked.

"Leonidas," he told her. Sarah giggled softly. After a short walk, they arrived at the police station. The first thing they noticed was an attractive redhead that looked exactly like Sarah was pleading with an officer at a desk.

"Mommy!" Sarah cried as she ran towards her.

"Sarah!" her mother sobbed and picked her up. "Oh my god, I was so worried. How did you find me?"

"My friend Leonidas," Sarah said as she pointed in my direction. Sarah's mother put her down and walked over to him. She had a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Leonidas?" she asked.

"Artemis? Wow, it's great to see you. I didn't know you were a mother," Leonidas replied.

"Yeah. People move on and have lives when you break their hearts," Artemis said crossly. The situation had now turned awkward.

"Well I better be going…it was nice seeing you," Leonidas finished as he went to turn away.

"Thank you for helping my daughter. At least let me take you out to dinner as a reward?" she asked. A slightly sad smile crawled across Leonidas' face.

"Sure, I'd like that. Is your number still the same?" Leonidas asked.

"No. I had it changed a brief time ago. Let me give you my business card," Artemis answered. Artemis pulled a business card out of her pocket and handed it to him. She picked Sarah up and left the police station. Leonidas glanced at the card and laughed, feeling different in a way.

"Artemis Green-McAllister. Attorney at Law. For all high-profile cases, please call (231)-875-4932 ext. 395."

As Leonidas returned home later that day, he took notice of a special news report on the television. His parents were devoting all their current attention to this particular segment.

"Good evening, this is Channel 278 Evening News with Nancy Copendram On-Scene. Nancy?" the news anchor announced.

"Thank you, Lea! Now a few hours ago the Hubble Telescope took a few interesting pictures of what seems to be part of a mountain floating in the sky. The United States Air Force sent an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV to inspect the mysterious object and the pictures taken revealed an ancient palace with soldiers performing daily duties. The UAV flew in lower to produce more images, but was ultimately shot out of the sky. During the last few minutes of the video, a pale white male ripped off the camera and held it up to his face," she explained.

"I am the immortal Xerxes of Babylon. In the Netherrealm I have gained the knowledge to conquer this puny world. Your time is over!" he growled.

"Now with me is NATO Commander General Harrison. General, what does this discovery of "Xerxes" and the perceived threat mean for the US and our allies?" Nancy asked.

"Now that you mention that Nancy, it means that we have just received a declaration of war from an opposing force. What we shall do in response to this, is retaliate with a full-on military strike before we are…are…ugh!" General Harrison began to explain before a red-hot blade poked out of his chest and sliced upwards.

The remains of General Harrison fell and a metallic humanoid appeared. Nancy screamed as the monster knocked her away and began to wreak havoc.

"That incompetent fool Furcula lacked the proficiency and professionalism to serve the Almighty Lord Xerxes and retrieve the Elemental Pillars. But I Nagi'z, will succeed where he failed. Persians to me!" he roared. Persians crawled out of the ground and began to wreak havoc. Screams of innocent people reverberated off the high-rises in the city, echoing for miles. On television, Leonidas watched as they were killed with such brutality. He ran outside and pulled out his morpher.

"Phalanx Mode, ready! Go, go Spartan Force!" Leonidas shouted and thrust his hand into the air. Encased in a flash of light, Leonidas emerged as the Red Dragon Phoenix Ranger. "Spartan Force, Ready! Defender of the Ancient World!"

Inside his helmet, a heads-up display accessed the Morphing Grid and worldwide database. He quickly contacted Trojan.

"Leonidas, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Is there any way that I can get to the center of the city quickly?" Leonidas answered.

"I am currently developing transportation for your team, but I do believe you should be able to have access to the Spirit of the Dragon Phoenix. Your access code is Zulu-Mike-Tango-Alpha-Romeo. Good luck," Trojan explained before disconnecting. Leonidas' display returned to a visual of the outside with a damage count and injury monitor.

"Thanks for the help," Leonidas muttered. He pulled up his morpher on the screen and entered in his access code. His heartrate quickly increased, and he could feel himself growing. Scales replaced his armor and a sharp pain exploded on his back, as massive leathery wings sprouted. Within mere moments, Leonidas had become the mythical creature known as the Dragon Phoenix. "No way, this is so awesome!" he thought to himself. In response to his thoughts, he issued a guttural roar and issued a blast of fire towards the sky. Flexing his mighty wings, Leonidas flew towards the city.

 _ **The Caves**_

"Trojan, you realize that by granting them access to their spirit animals, they will be changed permanently? Nothing will be the same for them after this," Alexander questioned worriedly.

"Yes. But it is needed. Xerxes is growing in strength by the day. If the Rangers are not matching him, they have no hope of winning," he answered.

"I hope you are right," Alexander spoke.

 _ **Reno, Nevada**_

The Persians had officially laid waste to the entire city. Cars had been overturned, glass littered the ground, and people were either injured somewhere taking shelter, or lying dead in the street. Leonidas noticed Nagi'z with his enhanced vision and scowled, which produced a snarl. He let out an immensely loud roar and descended rapidly. While descending, he encased his entire body in fire. He waited until he was just above the rooftops of the high-rises, when he unfurled his wings and glided over. Leonidas looped around and blasted the street with a fiery inferno of red flames.

"NO! There are innocent people down there! Why did I do that?" Leonidas screamed in thought.

"It is the instinct of the Dragon Phoenix," a voice told him. He let out another roar and stepped onto the street below. The Dragon Phoenix slowly melted away with every step it took, until Leonidas remained.

Nagi'z stepped out of the shadows and walked up to meet him.

"Who are you mortal?" he asked.

"I am the Red Dragon Phoenix Ranger and you shall be defeated," Leonidas said proudly. Nagi'z laughed.

"Challenge accepted. It's been too long since I've had a real challenge to work with!" Nagi'z replied. "Persians!"

Persians swarmed the streets and surrounded Leonidas.

"Too afraid to fight your own battles?" he shouted.

"Consider this a preliminary round to our battle. I would like to see if you are worth my time!" Nagi'z stated. Leonidas unsheathed the Dragon Phoenix sword and took up a fighting stance.

The Persians charged Leonidas, and he brought his ruby-red sword down to meet the black metal of their weapons. Every now and again, a random group of two or three Persians would be thrown into the sky by a blast of fire. Within mere moments, the army had been reduced to blackened dust and Leonidas sheathed his sword. The only sound that reached Leonidas' eardrums was the clapping of Nagi'z metal hands. Leonidas glanced at the damage counter, which read at 98% and his injury monitor indicated he had several lacerations and multiple contusions across his body. Four distortions appeared a few feet away from him, and the rest of his team appeared.

"Leonidas!" the rest of his team shouted, as they ran over to him. Their eyes widened as they took notice of his damaged uniform.

"Oh, my goodness, Leonidas. What were you thinking not calling us here? You could have been hurt or worse killed!" Cassandra asked. She pulled him into a tight hug, after slapping him.

"Calling for backup was the furthest thing from my mind when I saw the report on TV earlier. Innocent people were being slain in the street!" Leonidas winced.

Nagi'z blasted the five rangers to get their attention.

"Red Ranger? I believe we have some business to take care of?" he asked. Leonidas grimaced as he unsheathed his sword again, and they both began to walk towards each other. Their paces quickened rapidly, until they were mere inches away from one another. As they both swung down, Nagi'z caused his sword to disappear, producing a knife and slashed Leonidas' chest, creating an explosive blast. Leonidas collapsed in absolute pain and agony. Nagi'z grabbed the back of his neck and brought his face up to meet his.

"The next time we meet…you will be a more formidable opponent!" he growled and threw him back down. Three police cars pulled up to the scene of the battle, and several officers climbed out. They began to fire on Nagi'z. He jumped out of sight as they continued to waste ammunition. Due to the high damage count on his body, Leonidas de-morphed and fell unconscious from his injuries. Cedric ran over and picked him up carefully. They immediately brought him to the nearest hospital to be treated.

The doctors' determined that Leonidas had fell into a coma, and could not say when or if he would wake up. The physical strain to his body was too great. It would be a miracle if he would be the same person.

Three days later, his eyes opened but only slightly. It took him a few moments before they adjusted to the light. Cedric was the first one to notice Leonidas open his eyes.

"He's awake!" he shouted. "How you doing champ?"

Lily, Dorian, and Cassandra ran in and hugged Leonidas with such a force, his eyes could have popped from their sockets. When Cassandra had finally let go, he could see her face had been stained with tears.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! I mean it!" Cassandra whined.

"This has got to be without a doubt the stupidest thing you have ever done!" Lily lectured. Leonidas looked at Cedric and Dorian for some help. They both nodded their heads in agreement.

Their morphers' went off and a holographic message of Trojan and Alexander appeared.

"Rangers. We have important matters to discuss. You are needed in the Power Chamber as soon as possible," they spoke. Leonidas got out of his hospital bed and collapsed in pain.

"Leonidas!" Cassandra worried. She went to help Leonidas up, but he motioned for her to stop. Leonidas stood up, stretched and breathed deeply.

"See you there," he mumbled, grinning mischievously. He raced towards the window and jumped through it. Shards of glass fell towards the street below.

"Leonidas!" everyone screamed. They all ran to the shattered window and watched as the foolish red ranger plummeted toward the Earth. What they saw afterwards, made them jump back. They witnessed their leader transform into a dragon and fly away.

"Cassandra…are you okay?" Lily asked her. All the color had been drained out of her face.

"No. That's not the Leonidas I know. Something has changed him. He wouldn't go anywhere without his team or perform these suicidal acts," she whimpered.

"It'll be alright, Cassandra," Cedric assured her.

"I hope you're right," Cassandra told him. She fidgeted with the ring on her finger and sighed. The remaining four Rangers accessed the teleportation mode from their morphers' and faded away from the hospital.

Oddly enough, the four of them arrived at the entrance to the Power Chamber before Leonidas had even gotten there. Moments later, they spotted him high above the clouds. They were then given the chance to see the Dragon Phoenix turn back into Leonidas, through a blast of fire and land on one knee in front of them.

"That's so cool! Wish I could do something like that!" Cedric cheered. Leonidas smiled and walked over to Cassandra, pulling her close to him. She rubbed her head into his shoulder and cried.

"What's going on with you, Leonidas? You're different now. I'm worried," she whimpered.

Leonidas kissed her forehead.

"There is nothing to worry about. I am the same person that you fell in love with, and are now engaged to. I love you so much," Leonidas assured her. "We'd better get to see what Alexander and Trojan want."

Everybody headed into the Caves and taking the secret route, hidden by a collection of stalactites, into the Power Chamber. When they arrived, Trojan was busy introducing innovative technology to Alexander, who was floating lazily around not paying attention. Dorian put a finger to his lip signaling everybody to be quiet and produced a Cerberus Grenade. With precise accuracy, Dorian threw the grenade right behind Trojan, which exploded into a spectral form of the beast. Trojan slowly shook his head.

Trojan turned around and walked right through the growling animal.

"Nice try, Mr. Redstone, but it is hard to frighten a man with his own technology, especially after being frightened by it numerous times before. Now, Alexander has information that you need to hear," Trojan explained.

Alexander popped in front of the Rangers. "Glad you could come! Gather around the viewing globe please; I have something very important you need to know," he explained.

Alexander accessed the Morphing Grid and brought up an image of six stone pillars.

"Rangers. These are the Elemental Pillars. One for each of the six elements; Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Light, and Darkness. Individually, they are responsible for controlling their respective elements. If they were to be destroyed, the Chaotic Balance of the World would be thrown into disarray. Earth would become a wasteland. Ever so slowly, the elements would deteriorate. Your duty as Power Rangers, is to ensure these Pillars are protected and unharmed.

However, they also have a hidden power. If they are all collected and placed in a certain pattern, they allow one person to use their collective power for one request. Long ago, I sought out this power and had plans to use it to make Macedonia the greatest kingdom in the Ancient World. Unfortunately, I was not the only one in search of this power. Xerxes planned on using this power for evil and laying waste to the entire world, reforming it in his image. After an arduous ten-year campaign, I arrived at the resting place of the Elemental Pillars. I was prepared to make my request when Xerxes arrived. We engaged in a bloody battle. The intensity of our fight, just seemed to anger the Pillars. Due to my status of being the demi-god Son of Zeus, I was able to channel the Divine Power. I manipulated the power in such a way, that I confined Xerxes in a special prison. Seeing my will and determination, the Divine Spirits that controlled the Pillars granted me the one thing I so desperately wanted. Macedonia became the greatest kingdom in the Ancient World. Afterwards, the Elemental Pillars hid themselves throughout the world, and have only been mentioned briefly since then. They have become the stuff of legend now, and only the foolhardiest people dare to search for them. I fear that Xerxes has begun searching for the Pillars. If he finds them he will be unstoppable. Nothing will be the same. The world as you once knew it, will be gone," Alexander explained in detail.

"So, you want us to track these Pillars down and use them against Xerxes?" Lily asked.

"Yes and no. I would like you to collect the Pillars. Once we have them, a request shall be made to return my mortal form. And together, we shall destroy Xerxes once and for all!" Alexander yelled.

"Everything changes," Leonidas whispered.

"What do you mean?" Cassandra questioned.

"Going forward, everything changes. We are no longer just fighting monsters. Now we are treasure hunters as well. I think there was another Ranger team, who did the exact same thing," Leonidas explained. "They were called 'Operation: Overdrive' or something like that."


	5. Chapter Four: Betrayal and Lust

CHAPTER FOUR: BETRAYAL AND LUST

 _ **Later that night**_

Leonidas was lying in his bed semi-asleep, when his phone notified him of a recent text message. Groggily, he checked his inbox, and took notice of a number he had seen earlier that day.

 **Leonidas…are you there? (** **Artemis** **)**

 **Who is this? And how did you get this number? (** **Leonidas** **)**

 **C'mon cutie. Don't play me like that. It's Artemis ;) (** **Artemis** **)**

 **Oh. Hi. What are you doing right now? (** **Leonidas** **)**

 **Just watching a movie by myself. I could use the company. Join me? (** **Artemis** **)**

 **Sure. Address? (** **Leonidas** **)**

 **1214 Park Avenue Boulevard**

 **4** **th** **Floor, Apartment 243.**

 **Knock three times rapidly. (** **Artemis** **)**

 **On my way. Wear something nice ;) (** **Leonidas** **)**

Leonidas put his phone back on his desk, slid on a pair of dark-blue jeans and his favorite red hoodie with black combat boots. A silver chain with a golden key, rested on his neck. Cassandra had given it to him on their six-month anniversary.

"My heart belongs to you and only you," she had said to him as they made love that night.

"Am I really about to betray the trust of Cassandra for a late-night booty call?" he asked himself. He shrugged his shoulders and jumped out of his window, landing with extreme finesse. Considering his neighbor's driveway, he spotted a Yamaha Red Star 300, the fastest motorbike on the market. "I'm sure Derek won't miss this."

Leonidas hotwired the bike and took off towards the city, which was now set against a starry backdrop of the night sky. Back on his desk, his phone rang, and Cassandra's name and picture popped up. After nine rings she left a message.

"Hey babe. I was just lying here thinking about our future together. I wanted to talk about the way you've been acting and about the status of our relationship. Call me when you get this message," Cassandra spoke.

 _ **Artemis's Apartment**_

Artemis opened a secured metal cupboard and slid on a skin-tight black suit and attached armaments everywhere. She unzipped it enough to show a fair amount of cleavage. Artemis wrapped a blue silk robe around her and waited in the living room for Leonidas. The hex she had placed on him will work.

"That fool doesn't know what he's walking into. My seduction and charm will be enough to put him into a false sense of security and then I'll strike. One more Ranger will be down, and I'll be that much closer to being freed from this eternal curse! No longer will I have to suffer," she monologued.

 _ **Leonidas' Motorbike**_

Leonidas glided through the city as gracefully as a raven in a field of grain. As he pulled up to Artemis' apartment, he hopped onto the fire escape and climbed up to her floor.

"Nothing better than the element of surprise with a midnight booty call," he chuckled. Oddly enough, the window was open as if Artemis had been expecting him to come through the window. Climbing through, he spotted Artemis lying on the couch. He eased up and snuck over to her and placed his hand sensually on her thigh. It was then that she attacked him.

"Bad idea, Red Ranger! Didn't anybody ever tell you not to sneak up on an assassin?" she laughed. Artemis clapped her thighs around his neck and slammed Leonidas on his head. Ever so swiftly, she placed the tip of a knife to his throat.

"Why Artemis? I thought you wanted me. I thought that we could be together!" Leonidas cried. Artemis only laughed, but it quickly turned to a sob.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Artemis quickly applied a miniscule amount of pressure, and the knife slipped into his throat. The Spirit of the Dragon Phoenix then took over Leonidas. It had been quick enough to save his life. Leonidas threw Artemis off him and roared.

"Ravage me!" Artemis whimpered. Leonidas ripped off her bodysuit and made sweet sensual love to the assassin.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes laughed as a red orb of energy floated in front of him and took the form of Leonidas.

"How do you feel?" Xerxes asked. The copy of Leonidas looked around and smiled.

"Alive," he shouted. "I am ready and willing to serve."

"We shall make our move soon," Xerxes added.

 _ **Artemis' Apartment**_

Leonidas woke up next to Artemis and rubbed his head.

"What the hell happened last night?" he said groggily. Turning his head, he noticed Artemis who was moaning in pleasure.

"Your ability to pleasure a woman in the bedroom definitely hasn't changed. Drawing blood is definitely a new one though," Artemis explained as she rubbed a mark on her shoulder.

"What can I say, it's natural," Leonidas laughed.

"I wish I didn't have to leave, but I have to be in court within the hour. Call me sometime okay?" Artemis offered. Less than 20 minutes later, Artemis had left the apartment and broke down crying on the front stoop.

"I won't kill him. I broke my heart once over him once, I won't break it again! I love him! I've done terrible things to every Red Ranger in existence, but I can't continue. Without the Red Ranger, Xerxes will destroy the Spartan Force Rangers and annihilate the world," Artemis stated. An enormous shadow formed on the sidewalk, and Nagi'z rose up.

"Good morning, Artemis. Did I hear you correctly? I could have sworn you just refused to carry out your duty to exterminate a Red Ranger!" he said snidely.

"I did. Leonidas is my one true love. I cannot kill the man I have pledged my heart to," Artemis spoke between the tears. "I have existed on this planet for more than 5000 years, find someone else to do your dirty work."

"Did you forget the deal that we made six years ago? I cured your daughter's terminal illness and in return, you were to kill any force that posed a threat to the return of Xerxes. If you simply refuse, I will pass this information on to Xerxes, and you as well as your daughter will become slaves," Nagi'z explained nastily.

"I swear with all the life in my body, if you even think of touching my daughter, I will rip you apart," Artemis threatened. Nagi'z produced his sword and placed the tip at her throat.

"You know, I only have to apply the tiniest bit of pressure. You'll forget all your feelings of love, and will remember the task at hand. However, I think I will let you remain how you are. Do your job!" Nagi'z growled and melted away into the shadow. Sarah came outside and hopped down the steps. With tears in her eyes, Artemis pulled out her cellphone. In case the situation ever arose, she had planted explosives all over the building. Although, she wished that she never had to use this contingency plan.

"Goodbye, my love!" she whispered. Walking away, she pressed the send button and her apartment exploded.

"Mommy, the apartment is on fire," Sarah pointed out.

"I know baby," Artemis replied.

 _ **5 minutes earlier…**_

After Artemis had left her apartment, Leonidas smacked his forehead with his hand and groaned.

"What the hell did I do? Cassandra is going to kill me if she ever finds out!" he shouted. After a few minutes, he was able to find his clothes. They were a shredded mess. His body froze, and he began to experience a quite lucid vision of the Dragon Phoenix.

"Greetings, Leonidas Florian. I am the Dragon Phoenix and my spirit now inhabits your body. Together, you and I shall bring an end to the threat that is Xerxes of Babylon. To defeat him, you and your team must use the power of your Spirits to destroy him. I have sensed the Spirit of the Cerberus has awakened. Go now," it spoke. The vision ended.

Leonidas was able to move freely again, so he jumped out the window and landed roughly on the adjacent rooftop. Minutes later, the apartment burst into flames. The building fell to the ground in a cloud of dust and fire. Leonidas was thrown across the rooftop, and barely managed to stop himself from falling to the ground below.

"Ugh. What the hell just happened?" he spoke. He could feel the warmth of his blood running down his face. "Great."

Screams echoed from down on the street and a fireball flew into the sky. Clutching his arm which he could tell was severely bruised, he walked over to the edge of the building and took notice of a suspiciously familiar female. "Princess Corine of Corinth?" he questioned. He was surprised he was able to place a name to the face.

Hearing her name, she looked up and screamed bloody murder.

"Traitor!" she screamed as she threw a fireball towards him. Leonidas caught the projectile and reduced it to nothing. "You left me at Adenis! I'll kill you!"

Leonidas just scratched his head and experienced a flashback to when his namesake had visited the Kingdom of Corinth on the island of Adenis, and fallen in love with their princess, Corine. Realizing that it had been just a passing fling, he eventually returned to his wife in Sparta.

"I know who you are! But you have the wrong Leonidas!" Leonidas yelled back. Corine's hand shot towards Leonidas, grabbing him and slammed him onto the street below.

"We were betrothed together in the Temple of Apollo! The Gods' showed great favor over our prospective marriage! They blessed me with your progeny!" she screamed. Leonidas switched his morpher's communicator function on and summoned his team.

"Rangers, I need assistance!" he shouted as he stood back up. The other Rangers teleported to Leonidas' location.

"What do we get boss?" Dorian asked.

"Seems to be some sort of betrayed lover of Leonidas' from Ancient Times. Cassandra, perhaps you could try and calm her down woman-to-woman?" Leonidas asked.

"Sure…" she answered warily. Walking towards Corine cautiously, Cassandra activated her morpher just in case things went awry. The other Rangers did the same. Corine noticed Cassandra and electricity began to arc between her fingertips.

"Who are you, mortal?" she inquired.

"I am Cassandra Sykes. What is thy name?" Cassandra answered with a question.

"My name is Princess Corine Nagal of the Ancient Kingdom of Corinth," she explained. Involuntarily, Cassandra gave a deep bow. "I am here to kill my estranged betrothed, Leonidas.

Cassandra glanced over to Leonidas with a glare.

"She's talking about my namesake!" he yelled. Cassandra mouthed something that Leonidas couldn't understand.

"Perhaps you could tell me what he did, and exactly how you got here?" Cassandra asked. Corine nodded her head and waving her hand through the air, she produced a distortion in time. It was a glimpse into the ancient past, showing King Leonidas of Sparta dancing in the pale moonlight with Princess Corine.

"Corine, why must you be so beautiful? You have my immense gratitude, allowing my men and I to rest and recover our strength, after our battle with Darius. These past few weeks have been a dream. I am disappointed to say, that I have fallen deeply in love with you. I want to leave my wife, and make you my Queen in Sparta. You would be dressed in the finest clothes made from quality silk and satin, while wearing the best jewels crafted by famous smiths," the king offered. Corine blushed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Leonidas, my love. While your proposal is immense, I cannot leave my people. My place is here…" Corine spoke sadly. "You could stay here with me, maybe?"

"It is a tempting offer, but I shall decide…yes," Leonidas told her. The two young lovers kissed deeply.

Corine swiped her hand through the distortion with tears in her eyes. She looked directly at Leonidas.

"That was the last night we were together. After sharing a bed for close to a month, you disappeared. I feared you had returned to your Kingdom of Sparta and would never again reach our shores. Observing the dock, I took notice that your ships were no longer docked. Was what we had even real? Or were you just speaking out of your ass? I waited day after day, at the dock for your return. I soon discovered I was pregnant with our child, but after 3 months of no sight of you, I almost killed myself. I thought you had perished. When I gave birth, our son, Demetrius Apollo, lived for ten minutes, before he ceased his breath. I was beside myself with grief, and concluded that it was the will of the Gods'. A brief time later, I was crowned Queen of Corinth, but it mattered nothing without you by my side. We were soon invaded by a man known as Alexander. He assimilated our kingdom into his of Macedonia. When all seemed lost, Hades appeared to me in all his splendor. He informed me that you had been cursed and displaced in time, becoming a juvenile once more, and that you had found a new betrothed. A rage built within me and I wanted you dead. He bestowed upon me the power to extinguish your life force, and if I succeeded, we were to spend eternity together in the Underworld. I ask that you give yourself up willingly, my love, or you shall regret it," Corine explained.

"Your Highness, while you pitch a wonderful tale of woe and whimsy, I have no interest in being your King or spending the rest of eternity in the Underworld. I am not the Leonidas you have been seeking. While it is true that I possess his name, I am not him. King Leonidas of Sparta, perished. I am in love with her," Leonidas stated. Corine began to sob and looked at Cassandra, who was smiling.

Deep inside, Corine's heart disintegrated and her deep love for Leonidas transformed into burning rage.

"If I can't have you, then nobody will…" she whispered. With a snap of her fingers, Corine transformed into a demonic-looking being, known as the War Queen of Corinth and drew a familiar sword. Only instead of it being the Dragon Phoenix it was the Dragon Hydra sword. Corine swung her sword at Cassandra, and she was blasted into the second-floor of a nearby high-rise.

"CASSANDRA!" everyone yelled. They pulled out their morphers and dialed in the morphing code.

"Phalanx Mode, ready! Go, go Spartan Force!" they all shouted seriously. The remaining four rangers disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in their Ranger uniforms. "Spartan Force, Ready! Defenders of the Ancient World!"

"No army this time? Do you think that three individuals in colored spandex, is going to save you? It won't protect you my love," Corine squealed. She drove her sword into the ground and caused skeletal warriors to climb from the ground.

"You've got to be joking," Cedric shouted. The skeletal warriors morphed into fallen Spartan warriors and drew their swords. "So not fair."

"Destroy the others. Leave the King to me," Corine ordered.

"Give it your all team. This crazy bitch is mine. No one kills my fiancé and lives!" Leonidas directed. The Rangers charged the Spartans and brought out their weapons. Dorian reached for his grenades, but instead found a shield with a Cerberus molded into the front.

"What does this do?" he questioned. He threw the shield in a wide arc around him and watched as it split into three separate shields, turning into spectral Cerberus'. Every Spartan they hit turned to dust, and the shields recombined while returning to Dorian's hand. "This I can work with!"

The Rangers and Spartans clashed, and the battle resembled the Battle of Thermopylae. Leonidas fought his way through the swarm of warriors, amid the occasional Spartan. The clang of metal echoed throughout the city. Running past Lily, he took notice that she had a dagger in each hand, and she had begun to spin rapidly forming a Lightning Vortex, killing Spartans and wreaking havoc on the surrounding area.

"Atta girl! Give 'em hell!" Leonidas cheered. In the middle of the field, Corine was lazily dragging her sword across the blood-soaked pavement, singing to herself.

"Princess Corine. I offer you this one chance to back down and stop this senseless fighting. Fighting over love is not worth it, especially a non-existent love! Did you learn nothing after the Fall of Troy?" Leonidas pleaded.

"As tempting as that sounds, my love, you need to be taught not to betray a Queen," she sang. Lifting her sword, she sent forth a blast of thermo-kinetic energy towards Leonidas who blocked it and redirected it towards a high-rise.

"Impressive."

Leonidas turned his sword into a spear and threw it directly at her heart. Corine's reflexes weren't fast enough and the spear impaled her, causing her to fall to the ground. Golden ichor, the blood of the gods began to flow from her wound.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Corine stood up and pulled the spear out of her chest, throwing it off to the side. "Did you not hear me when I said Hades had given me power? I am wielding the Power of Darkness!"

Summoning his sword back, Leonidas rushed Corine. He swung his sword down heavily and Corine blocked the strike with ease. She matched every maneuver with precision.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?" Leonidas screamed. He grabbed Corine's throat and lifted her into the air.

"You wouldn't kill me, would you?" Corine pleaded. Leonidas allowed the Dragon Phoenix to take him over, and he snapped Corine's neck with unimaginable strength. Dropping her lifeless corpse to the ground, Leonidas returned to normal. A Spartan had seen her hit the ground and ran over to her.

"My Queen. You mustn't die. I give you my life force so that you may live again," the Spartan spoke softly. Cutting his arm with a serrated dagger, he allowed a few drops of black blood to hit her forehead. What happened next, was instantaneous.

Leonidas watched as the Spartan was absorbed into Corine, and Corine was engulfed by a black shadow, exploding into a new form.

"Poor deluded Leonidas!" she laughed. Corine's skin was now grey and could practically see through her. "The Power of Darkness runs through my veins now."

The Pillar of Darkness burst through the ground and the surrounding area began to deteriorate, as if the life-energy was being drained.

"Lily, Cedric, Dorian! Secure that pillar! I'll deal with her!" Leonidas ordered.

"Be wary Leonidas. She wields the Dragon Hydra sword. My sister sword is extremely powerful and destructive if used by the wrong hands. If Princess Corine can strike you down, I will not be able to bring you back. Plan your moves carefully," the Dragon Phoenix spirit said inside his head. Leonidas could feel the power coursing through his sword and ran at Corine. He brought his blade down hard upon her and Corine was barely able to counter it. "I would strike hard and fast."

Leonidas thrusted and parried furiously as Corine backed up further and further towards the Pillar. Corine feebly swung her sword, giving Leonidas the chance to disarm her. With a flick of his wrist and an elbow to her face, Corine's sword went flying into the air. Catching the blade, Leonidas brought both down upon her, sending her flying backwards.

"Now to end this once and for all. Trojan, do you have anything?" Leonidas asked. Lily and Dorian ran over to Leonidas, and handed him their weapons.

"Leonidas, Lily and Cedric came up with a way to combine our weapons into a mega weapon," Dorian panted.

"Where's Cedric's?" Leonidas questioned.

"Coming at you!" Cedric shouted as he threw the Scorpion Hammer at Leonidas, who only managed to catch it by the tip of the handle.

"We need Cassandra's Hydra Bow!" Leonidas said worriedly.

"Here ya' go!" Cassandra shouted as she killed the last of the Spartans and handed over her bow.

"Alright! Spartan Combination, Energy Bolt!" they all shouted. The five weapons rose up into the air and combined. Dorian's shield became the base, Cassandra's bow went next, Lily's daggers connected on either side of the bow, Cedric's hammer slid into the middle of the bow, and Leonidas' swords locked into place on both sides of the hammer.

The five Rangers grabbed hold of the weapon and prepared to fire.

"What are you going to do with that?" Corine whimpered.

"Fire!" the Rangers shouted. An enormous bolt of energy blasted out of the weapon and connected with Corine, who absorbed the entire thing.

Her armor fell to the ground and she began to spark.

"I guess I was wrong to pursue my love for you Leonidas. You obviously have a Queen by your side already. Goodbye, my love," she choked out before she exploded. The Pillar of Darkness began to shrink, and it became a small totem that flew into Leonidas' hand.

"Spartan Rangers, Ancient World Defended!" Leonidas said proudly as they demorphed. He glanced over at Cassandra and noticed her eyes were encased in blue fire.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Cassandra's eyes returned to normal and she fainted.

 _ **Caves**_

Back at the Power Chamber, Trojan placed the Pillar of Darkness inside a containment unit and sealed it away. Alexander looked over Cassandra and sighed.

"She'll be fine. The Hydra spirit within her has awoken and it took control of her body as it healed. In the future, she will need to be careful or it will kill her. The same goes for all of you," Alexander explained.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes had been watching the battle with extreme curiosity, and exploded with fury when he saw the Rangers' acquire one of the Elemental Pillars.

"Curse Alexander! I want a squad of my best Bruisers dispatched to recover that pillar!" he shouted. He turned to Corine who had just appeared in a flash of light and comforted her.

"I want them dead. Especially Leonidas!" she cried.

"They will be. And you shall be the one to kill Leonidas personally. You shall be a Queen once again," Xerxes laughed.

"Excellent!" Corine joined in.

 _ **J-Force Café**_

The five Rangers were enjoying a round of smoothies on Leonidas, who was hoping to get back in his friend's good graces.

"I'm sorry I judged you Leonidas. I shouldn't have been so worried," Cassandra cooed. Leonidas smiled, and his eyes flashed a bright fiery red, while Cassandra's flashed an electric blue when she blew a kiss.


	6. Chapter Five: A Blast From The Past

CHAPTER FIVE: A BLAST FROM THE PAST

 _ **New Zealand, 2017**_

Jayden Shiba, the former Red Samurai Ranger woke with a start. He had been dreaming about the ultimate battle with Master Xandred, and the destruction of the Nighloks three years ago. He was drenched in a cold sweat.

"What the hell?" he gasped. Running his hand through his hair, Jayden glanced at the woman who was sleeping soundly and only stirred slightly when he rested his hand on her shoulder. He sighed and smiled, remembering when she had returned to the Shiba House after being away on a culinary tour. Mia Watanabe, the former Pink Samurai Ranger had come knocking on his door in the middle of the night, exactly one year ago.

 _ **One Year Ago**_

His mentor Ji, had given him somewhat of a leeway on training now that Master Xandred had been defeated. There was the occasional pocket of Nighlok foot soldiers, but that had been the extent of it. He had even given him a guitar to learn how to play. Ji was falling asleep listening to Jayden play, when he jerked awake.

"I apologize Jayden. I am afraid I cannot fight off the welcoming embrace of sleep. I shall retire to my quarters. Goodnight," he yawned.

"Goodnight, Ji," Jayden replied. His Lion Folding Zord was floating through the air, chasing an invisible enemy. Strumming a few more chords, he laid his guitar back into its case. Standing up, he stretched his tired muscles. Jayden picked up his old Samuraizer off an end table and flipped it open.

"Go, go Samurai!" he shouted and within an instant, he was dressed in his old uniform. "Red Ranger, ready!"

A knock on the door set his guard on high-alert. Nighloks weren't normally ones to knock on the door before attacking, then again Nighloks shouldn't be at his door due to the protective symbols around the compound.

"Power down," Jayden spoke. Walking to the front door, he pulled it open just a crack and saw the love of his life standing outside with several suitcases. She looked like she had been crying. "Mia?" he whispered as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Jayden…I need a place to stay and I have nowhere else to go. Is here alright?" she asked. The woman he had fallen in love with had left him to pursue a degree in culinary arts three years ago. The bracelet that was wrapped around his wrist, was a reminder that she would return.

Jayden immediately opened the door the rest of the way, which caused Mia to smile. There it was. "Thank you."

"I'll put some tea on. Do you still take yours with milk and honey?" Jayden asked.

"You remember?" she laughed. "That would be lovely right now." Mia walked over to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Disappearing into the kitchen, Jayden made some chamomile tea with a few drops of honey and a splash of whole milk. Minutes later, he walked out with a plate of rice cakes and two cups of tea. Mia was sitting cross-legged on the couch, and smiled as she took her cup of tea.

"So, what have you been up to?" Jayden asked as he took a bite of a rice cake. He watched as the Turtle Folding Zord wiggled out of Mia's back pocket, and it started to chase the Lion Zord around the room. Mia laughed.

"Well, after I graduated from culinary school, I was personally requested by Gordon Ramsay to go on a tour of the most prestigious restaurants in Europe. I found each part of the world that I visited to be both, enlightening and culturally stimulating. During my tour, I met and began a relationship with a man called Tyler Navarro," Mia detailed.

When Jayden had heard that she had dated another man, he felt his heart begin to break…

"We both worked at a local restaurant in Wales, and we were always able to get along well. That all ended when I was chosen over him to be the sous chef. Everything turned into a competition between us and it all came crashing down when I found him in bed with another woman. So, I packed up everything in the middle of the night, and boarded the earliest flight here. I came to the one place I knew I was welcome, the place I knew you would be. I still love you, Jayden," Mia explained.

His heart fluttered and almost burst out of his chest. Apparently, he had a excited look on his face. Mia began to giggle and kissed Jayden full on the lips. The kiss became so intense that they had to break apart due to a lack of oxygen.

"I love you, Mia. I always have," Jayden breathed. Mia slid her hands underneath Jayden's shirt and began to rub her hands up and down his abs. Jayden, in response, took off his shirt and let it fall to the floor. He lifted Mia's shirt and threw it across the room. To no surprise, Mia was wearing a lacey pink bra that was barely able to hold back her massive bosoms.

Jayden couldn't continue with his plan, as the Gap Sensor began to sound. "Damn it."

Ji came running with a bamboo sword and a pair of scissors.

"Jayden, it's time," he stated. "Reform the Rangers. Mia, glad you're back."

"Yes, Mentor!" Jayden nodded. He grabbed his Samuraizer and created the kanji symbol for return and slammed it outwards. "Symbol power, Return!"

The fiery red symbol glowed brightly and split into four separate symbols, each colored with the respective element of the other Rangers. Around the world, the other Samurai Rangers were living their lives.

 _ **London, England**_

Michael Hayashi and Emily Suzuki were walking hand-in-hand from a late-night dinner at La Fortuna, a restaurant owned by Antonio, back to the apartment they shared when two Return symbols appeared in front of them. Mike's was a leafy, forest green and Emily's was a rocky, sunny yellow.

"Are you ready, Mike?" Emily asked.

"Ready, Emily. Family reunion time," Mike shrugged. They both walked through their respective Kanji.

 _ **Tokyo, Japan**_

Kevin Hamasaki was readily preparing for the next summer Olympics, currently working on his 49th lap in the training pool. His goal was to reduce his time and become faster than Michael Phelps had ever been. This would have been an easy enough task if he were to use symbol power, but a Power Ranger was not to use their abilities for his/her own personal gain. As his head resurfaced at the end of the pool, he noticed that an ocean-blue kanji had appeared at the other end.

"And once again, my training is halted. Samurai duties must always come before everything else," Kevin grumbled as he climbed out of the pool. Drying off, he slipped a pair of black jeans and a blue underarmour shirt on, and jumped through the symbol.

 _ **Cancun, Mexico**_

Antonio Garcia was dangling his feet lazily off the stern of his boat, The La Fortuna, when the kanji symbol appeared just above the water.

"Here we go again! Vamanos!" he laughed and dived into the symbol.

 _ **Shiba House**_

One by one, the Samurai Rangers reconvened around the map of the city.

"Rangers. The time has come once again that you are needed to protect the world. While Master Xandred may no longer be a threat, I fear something much more powerful is at work," Ji explained.

"What exactly are we up against?" Kevin asked.

"According to international television reports, an immortal being known as Xerxes, has been released from an eternal prison and plans to lay waste to the Earth by acquiring the Elemental Pillars. It appears that a team of Rangers has been formed in the USA to fight off Xerxes forces. As it is, you should at least lend them a hand. I have been informed that they will be in Angel Grove, to prevent a general of Xerxes from obtaining an element to improve his army," Ji explained.

"But Mentor, how are we supposed to help this team of Rangers when we have no symbol power left?" Mike questioned. "Our Zords were all but destroyed in our battle with Master Xandred. All we have left are our folding Zords."

"Our symbol power has slowly been regenerating over the last two years. As for our Zords…I think Antonio should explain that one," Jayden answered. A mischievous smile flashed across Antonio's face and held up his Samuraizer.

"Samuraizer, Symbol Power! Congregate!" he shouted and threw out a gold symbol, which flew outside and illuminated the darkness. "My friends. If you would please join me outside."

One by one, everybody walked outside and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Our Zords!" Mia and Emily yelled. All the Samurai's Zords were surrounding the Shiba House. The Lion, Dragon, Ape, Turtle, and Bear Zords were all lined up in formation. The Bull, Shark, White Tiger, Swordfish, Beetle, Claw, Octo and Light Zords were surrounding them in a half circle.

"How did you manage to do this, Antonio?" Mia asked. Antonio tried not to stare at Mia's massive breasts when he turned to face her. "My god, Antonio, they're just breasts!" she laughed. Antonio turned a brighter red than Jayden's Ranger uniform.

"All I did when I went on those long fishing trips was work on the Zords reparation. I also did this…" Antonio explained. He created another symbol, which translated to portal and threw it out. A shimmering portal appeared and revealed a wormhole. "This will take us to the United States to help our compadres."

Mia ran inside to grab her shirt and pecked Jayden on the cheek.

"Well, are we going or not?" Mia asked. The Rangers nodded their heads and one by one, entered the portal.

"Good luck Rangers," Ji said and went back inside.

 _ **Reno, Nevada**_

After their battle with Corine, the Spartan Rangers had begun training as a team every day after school.

"Leonidas, we really need to worry about our class work. It's really begun to pile up," Lily suggested as she parried Leonidas' strikes.

"What are you talking about? You and I are at the top of our class. We have a responsibility to protect the world. Perhaps if you weren't worried about which college will accept you, you wouldn't be so behind," Leonidas countered. Lily blasted him with a force of lightning that sent him down to the ground. "Ouch. Alright, I might have deserved a small portion of that."

Their morphers went off and Trojan crackled over the speaker.

"Rangers, you are needed in Angel Grove. Xerxes has sent one of his generals to acquire an unknown material to improve his army. Head there straight away," he told them. They all coded in the teleportation codes and something unusual happened.

Sparks began to emit from their morphers and they disappeared. Within the ruins of the Turbo Power Chamber, what remained of Zordon's ancient technology fired to life.

 _ **Angel Grove**_

The Spartan Rangers literally fell out of thin air and landed in the Power Chamber.

"That ride was rougher than it normally is," Cassandra moaned.

"It might be because this technology hasn't been connected to the Morphing Grid in over 15 years. And it's obsolete," Dorian suggested.

"C'mon, let's go. Xerxes general is going to wreak havoc on this town! I think the people of Angel Grove have earned the right to a little peace," Leonidas called out. They walked into the desert and began their trek towards the city. After 3 hours they stumbled upon the city center. Angel Grove, California was just like any other city in America, except that it had been the subject of more alien attacks than anywhere else in the world.

Dead smack in the middle of the park, stood an enormous statue made of black onyx. It was carved in the shape of the original team of Rangers, correct to the last detail. Underneath the statue was a golden placard, with a small inscription.

" **This team of 6 may be long gone, but they shall never be forgotten. May the Power protect them wherever they may be."**

"Wow. These were the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I've read that they protected Angel Grove from Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, The Machine Empire, Divatox and the Dark Specter. Zordon had originally given them the power of the dinosaurs to combat Rita and Zedd, but when increasingly threatening opponents arrived to conquer Earth, new powers were needed. Thus, the Zeo and Turbo Rangers were born. They left a legacy that every successive team of Rangers has honored," Cedric explained.

The sound of heavy footsteps signaled them to turn around. An outlandish man dressed in the ratty Praetor robes was leaning on an ornate staff. Surrounding him was an enormous group of Spartans and Persians.

"Isn't that sweet? A group of tourists have come to see this eyesore of a statue! Don't worry, it will be destroyed today," he cackled.

"Not today, old man! Who exactly do you think you are?" Leonidas shouted. A smirk appeared on the man's face and he continued to laugh. His eyes turned pitch-black and demonic black wings sprouted from his back.

"I am the demon known as Balthazar! I control the demons that inhabit all planes of reality. Who might you be?" Balthazar laughed. The crystal on top of his staff cracked and he blasted the Rangers with ethereal whips, causing the statue to explode.

The Samurai Rangers had emerged from a wormhole a few feet away, and had been herding innocent civilians away from the danger.

"Wow, this is a wake-up call," Mike spoke.

"Yeah well put the phone down, we have a job to do," Jayden replied. They heard the explosion and saw the shards of what had to have been a statue, fly into the sky.

"NO!" Leonidas screamed. Lily summoned her daggers and sent the shards flying high into the sky. The group morphed quickly.

"Spartan Rangers, Defenders of the Ancient World!" they shouted.

"Hmm! Rangers! I have dealt with the likes of you before," Balthazar scoffed. "Soldiers, take care of them."

Balthazar took off into the sky after the shards of onyx.

"Lily, can you do anything to stop him?" Cassandra asked.

"I can try," she answered. She took off her helmet and breathed deeply. A bolt of lightning struck her, and she transformed into a majestic golden eagle, with an enormous wingspan. Lily took off after Balt hazar. "You can't outfly the Thunderbird!"

This proved to be true as Lily soared past Balthazar, and issued an ear-splitting cry, which shattered almost every shard of onyx and reduced them to finite dust.

"NO! You have ruined my chances of redeeming myself! You will die now!" Balthazar cried. His robes flew off him and his "skin" melted away, revealing the true red and black skinned, horned demon beneath.

Lily quickly turned back into herself and unsheathed her daggers.

"So, are we going do this?" Lily asked. Balthazar roared and dived towards her, colliding with Lily. Merely touching the demon was causing Lily to experience the pain of death while still living.

"This pain is what I experience every day, child!" Balthazar told her. Lily slammed her daggers into his shoulders, weakening his grip on her. Pushing away from Balthazar, she began to free-fall. Still recovering from her attack, Balthazar shot an orb of pure shadow from his staff at her. It engulfed Lily's entire body and she screamed in pain.

The rest of the Rangers, Spartans and Persians had just been watching the fight above when Lily impacted the ground. Leonidas and Cedric ran over to her crater, while Dorian and Cassandra engaged the Spartans and Persians.

"Lily, are you okay?" Cedric worried. Black electricity emanated from Lily and began arcing. Her screams of pain echoed in the mountains. "I am personally going to kill that fucker!"

An explosion caused them to spin around and see Cassandra and Dorian demorph and fall to the ground. Cedric and Dorian were struck by the black electricity and demorphed.

"Pathetic mortals! If I have no chance of becoming human again, your deaths will have to suffice!" Balthazar screamed.

The Samurai Rangers had finished moving civilians out of the way, when they witnessed the brutal attack on the Spartan Force Rangers.

"C'mon guys, they need our help!" Jayden shouted. They pulled their Samuraizer's out and flipped them open.

"Go, go Samurai!" they shouted, while creating their personal kanji and letting it envelope them.

"Gold Power!" Antonio shouted.

"Red Samurai Ranger, Ready!" Jayden shouted.

"Blue Samurai Ranger, Ready!" Kevin shouted.

"Green Samurai Ranger, Ready!" Mike shouted.

"Yellow Samurai Ranger, Ready!" Emily shouted.

"Pink Samurai Ranger, Ready!" Mia shouted.

"Gold Samurai Ranger, Ready!" Antonio shouted.

"Let's go!" Jayden shouted again.

Balthazar lifted his staff and slammed it down on the ground, resulting in a shockwave, which sent the Spartan Rangers flying.

"This is the best the Earth has to offer?" Balthazar laughed. "Disappointment!"

Suddenly, he was blasted by the Hydro Bow and stumbled back. "What was that?"

The Samurai Rangers ran into view.

"That was just a taste of what we have in store for you, Nighlok!" Kevin shouted.

"I am not a Nighlok, my dear mortal. I am something much worse!" Balthazar told him. He shot a ball of shadow, but Mike swatted it away with his sword.

"C'mon, man. You are going to have to do better than that!" he told him. Balthazar turned his staff into a sword and charged the Samurai. Jayden took a defensive stance and prepared to counter, when Leonidas ran across and struck the demon. He ran his sword clean through and ran out of the way.

"No mortal weapon can defeat me!" Balthazar grunted as he took a knee. Black blood began to ooze out of his wound.

"Thanks for the help. Maybe we can work together and send him back!" Leonidas suggested.

"Let's do it!" Jayden offered. The Spartan Rangers morphed again and summoned their weapons. Jayden summoned the Fire Smasher and the Samurai Rangers attached their Power Discs, while the Spartan Rangers combined their weapons to make the Spartan Cannon.

"Beetle Cannon, Fire!" the Samurai Rangers shouted and fired the weapon. A blast in the shape of a flaming beetle came charging out of the barrel of the weapon. Balthazar raised his sword to block the blast, but it shattered upon impact and hit him direct center-mass. He fell to his knees and screamed.

"Finish it! Destroy me! Set my spirit free!" he screamed. Leonidas powered up the Cannon, but was distracted by visions of Artemis.

"Leonidas, come to me…" she whispered in his head. He shook the visions away and returned his mind to the fight.

"Spartan Cannon, Fire!" they shouted as the weapon fired a bolt of energy at Balthazar, who exploded upon impact.

Xerxes re-summoned him and turned him into a Mega-Monster. With his sword, he began to lay waste to Angel Grove.

"Mi amigos! We must form the Megazord!" Antonio told them.

"Not this time, Antonio, this is their fight," Jayden told him. Antonio ignored him and summoned the Claw Zord. The mighty machine appeared in all its glory, only to miniaturize and fall to the ground. Jayden had performed an override.

"Leonidas, form your Megazord. We will drive these things away," Jayden finished as he motioned towards the Spartans and Persians.

Leonidas coded in the access to summon the Zords, and felt himself pulled into the cockpit of his.

"Dragon Phoenix, Online!" Leonidas said.

"Hydra, Online!" Cassandra said.

"Thunder Bird, Online!" Lily said.

"Scorpion, Online!" Cedric said.

"Cerberus, Online!" Dorian shouted.

"Spartan Megazord Combination! We're bringing the fight to you!" they shouted. Balthazar swung his sword at the Megazord, but was easily disarmed. One fell strike from the Megazord and he exploded once more.

The Samurai whooped and cheered, but didn't notice a lone Spartan and Persian, carrying a huge chunk of onyx that had gone undamaged. They slipped through a crack in the wall and returned to Babylon.

Later that day, the Samurai and Spartan Rangers bid farewell to each other.

"Are you sure you need to leave?" Leonidas asked.

"Our fight has been over for a while. A new team of Rangers has been out together, and it is now their duty to protect the Earth. We will always be Rangers," Jayden explained. All six Samurai combined every ounce of their symbol power and a diamond memorial appeared. It was meant to serve as a replacement to the one that had been destroyed. Antonio opened the wormhole, and the Samurai Rangers were taken back to the Shiba House.

"Well, I guess that is it then. Time to go home," Leonidas told his team.

"Is it alright if we take a plane this time? I'd rather not do the whole falling out of the sky thing again," Cedric laughed.

"Sure, bro," Leonidas told him. In the back of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about Artemis. It was as if he was under a spell.

 _ **Shiba House**_

As the Samurai Rangers walked out of the portal, they looked at each other with pain in their eyes. Mike was the first one to break the awkward silence.

"So, we all have each other's numbers? Don't be strangers," he said as he and Emily began to fade away. Antonio and Kevin bid each other farewell and faded as well. Mia looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet. Jayden placed his hand on her cheek, causing her to meet his eyes.

"Stay…" he whispered. Mia found his lips and they kissed renewing their love.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes held up the chunk of onyx in front of Corine, who had now become his wife.

"With this, my army shall be unstoppable!" he shouted. His eyes glowed a bright red and the chunk of onyx exploded, coating his millions of soldiers. His Persians underwent a painful transformation, becoming Stone Elemental Bruisers.

"My King, when will we destroy the Rangers?" Corine muttered.

"Soon my love," Xerxes told her.

 _ **Power Chamber**_

Alexander floated in front of the Rangers and they could literally feel the anger emanating off him.

"I tasked you with stopping the demon Balthazar from acquiring that element. While you may have succeeded in stopping my brother, you failed to prevent Xerxes from improving his army. THE NEXT TIME I GIVE YOU A MISSION, MAKE SURE IT'S COMPLETED!" Alexander shouted. "NOW GET OUT!"

The Rangers left the Caves and began their long walk back to town, when Leonidas' phone rang.

"I'll catch up with you later," he told Cassandra. Stepping away, he answered his phone.

"Before you say anything, just know that I have your beloved Artemis. If you don't wish her to be harmed, then you will meet me at the Caesar's Palace Casino at eight o' clock tonight," Nagi'z said before the line went dead. Anger welled up inside of him, and Leonidas turned into a towering flame and screamed.

Morphing into the Dragon Phoenix, he flew away. Cassandra stepped out from behind a tree and crossed her arms.

"What is he up to?" she said.

 _ **Present Day**_

Jayden lay back down next to Mia, and rested his arm around her. She grabbed his hand and held on to it.

"I love you, Jayden…" she whispered in her sleep.

"I love you too, Mia," he told her. This is what he had always wanted; being next to the woman he loved and their daughter down the hall. The rest of his Samurai family, weren't that far away either. Little did he know; an evil force would soon uproot his peaceful life.


	7. Chapter Six: Dream State and Immortality

CHAPTER SIX: DREAM STATE AND IMMORTALITY

As Leonidas flew towards the Las Vegas he continued to receive visions of Artemis. They ranged from her being tortured and in pain, to her being sexual.

"Why am I going to her?" Leonidas thought.

"Because you love her. Why else would you be rushing to her aid?" the Dragon Phoenix told him. Within a few hours, he had reached Caesar's Palace and landed gracefully. He saw Artemis chained to the rooftop and ran to save her, but an explosion prevented him from doing so. Nagi'z rose from the ground and walked towards him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. A real warrior would have sensed a trap. I don't know what Alexander sees in you," he grumbled. "Get up. You must fight for your woman's life!"

"Leonidas, help me!" Artemis screamed. Leonidas stood up and summoned the Dragon Hydra sword.

"I'm only doing this because it is my duty as a Ranger, not because I have feelings for you. I feel absolutely nothing for you!" he shouted. Artemis whispered something under her breath, and Leonidas writhed in pain. "Ugh, what am I saying? I'll never let anything happen to you, and I'll always protect you," Leonidas shouted again.

Cassandra had tracked Leonidas' morpher signal to Las Vegas and hid inside one of the neon letters, atop Caesar's Palace.

"What is he doing?" she whispered. When she heard Leonidas speak for the second time, a few tears traveled down her rosy cheeks. "I can't believe it, I'm losing him to that tramp!"

She summoned her Hydra Bow and aimed it at Artemis. "Now I wait…"

Nagi'z swept his sword through the air and a wave of explosive energy burst forth. He charged Leonidas. With quick thinking and razor-sharp reflexes, Leonidas was able to stop the blast. He barely managed to catch it in his hands. When it became too much to handle, he threw it at the roof and caused a huge crater to form. A faint glow began to emanate from the rubble.

Nagi'z stopped in his tracks, an eerie smile spreading across his face.

"Well it appears that our little fight has unearthed an Elemental Pillar. So here is what we are going to do. I am going to kill you and your little girlfriend, and Xerxes is going to take possession of this pillar and give me a nice little upgrade!" he explained.

"You wish!" Leonidas laughed and let loose a torrent of fire from his mouth, encasing Nagi'z and utilizing the Dragon Hydra sword, he quenched the fire and rapidly cooled him. His body was now a solid piece of metal, unable to move. "Now what were we about to do?"

Cassandra pumped her fist into the air when Leonidas had beaten Nagi'z, but slowly watched as he walked over to Artemis.

"You did it, Leonidas! I knew…I just knew you wouldn't let me perish!" she cheered. What she did next, utterly broke Cassandra's heart. She kissed Leonidas full on the lips and Artemis could feel a sensation of relief pass over her.

"Artemis, what's going on? Leonidas asked.

"My curse has been broken after thousands of years. I am now free to finally live my life as I want," she told him.

"What curse?" Leonidas asked again.

"Do you remember when we were dating a few years ago, and I told you that there were aspects of my life you wouldn't be able to understand? One of those 'aspects' was that I was basically immortal. Until today, I was cursed to live forever by a nasty little hag in Nazareth. Now I can live my life with you again," Artemis explained.

"I do remember something along those lines, but I wanted no part of it. That's why I broke up with you. I've moved on from you. And whatever spell you put on me, I no longer feel its influence. That night of lust-filled sex, never should have happened. My love belongs to Cassandra Sykes, and I will never hurt her again!" Leonidas answered.

"No, it doesn't!" Cassandra yelled. She climbed through the neon letters of the casino and walked towards the two ex-lovers. In her hand was the engagement ring that Leonidas had given her. With one swift motion, she tossed it off the rooftop. "Obviously, you two are truly in love. Leonidas, I loved you, but…you've changed in an obvious way. I can't continue going on like this. Goodbye."

She pressed a button on her morpher and faded away. Leonidas fell to his knees and one would think that he would cry at the loss of the love of his life, but all he could do was laugh.

"At least I still have you, Artemis," he laughed and crawled over to pit where the Pillar rested. After digging through the rubble for several minutes, he came across a blood-red stone pillar with ancient symbols carved across it. A burst of power ran through his body and he became enveloped in flame. "The Elemental Pillar of Fire. That's two down, four to go," he continued. The screaming of Artemis distracted him, so he turned around to take notice of Xerxes holding her by the neck, nearly crushing her windpipe.

"Red Ranger, finally we meet. I've been wondering who has been causing me so much trouble in conquering this pathetic world. Why do you care so much for these…lower life forms? You and your comrades have the power to become gods'," he asked.

"This planet is worth saving. These…lower life forms as you call them, have evolved a great deal since your time. My friends and I will not let you take this planet without a fight!" Leonidas shouted as he powered up. Xerxes smiled as he threw Artemis down.

"Excellent," he cackled. He bared his black teeth in a snarl. Raising his hands, he conjured a massive longsword with a black diamond encrusted in the hilt. "It's been quite some time since I've gotten to eviscerate someone. This will be fairly painful…for you of course."

"That's quite a big weapon. Are you sure you're not compensating for something?" Leonidas joked.

"Laugh while you can Ranger, because your world is going to end in flames!" Xerxes growled. With an impressive feat of strength, he tossed Artemis over the edge of the casino. She barely managed to cling to the edge, to prevent herself from falling to her death below.

"LEONIDAS!" she screamed. Looking down, Artemis felt herself become queasy and nearly let go.

"Hang on, Artemis!" Leonidas yelled.

"You have two ways out of this. Surrender the Pillars and allow the destruction of this world to commence. Or, I kill you and take the Pillars for myself. You will be remembered for your sacrifice, and how you ultimately failed in stopping the Dark Lord Xerxes," Xerxes suggested.

During all the bickering back and forth, Nagi'z was able to break free of his confinement, sneaking up behind Leonidas.

"One of these days you are going to learn, that I am not so easily defeated. Now sleep, eternal!" Nagi'z whispered before sticking a poisoned dagger into his rib cage, just nicking his heart.

"Ugh…" Leonidas groaned in pain as he fell to his knees.

Xerxes was about to bring his longsword down and cleave his newest victim in two, when he noticed a blade sticking out of his side. Nagi'z pushed Leonidas to the ground, and a pool of blood began to spread from his wound.

"Hmm, you've been spared the honor of being struck down by a worthy adversary. Pity," Xerxes said quietly. Nagi'z wrenched the Pillar of Fire from Leonidas' dying grasp and knelt in front of Xerxes.

"My Lord," he spoke softly. Xerxes touched the Pillar and it was absorbed into his body.

"You've done well, Nagi'z. You are well on your way to becoming a General in my army," Xerxes laughed. Nagi'z bowed and melted into the shadows with Xerxes. Cassandra rematerialized as they disappeared.

She spotted Artemis hanging on for dear life, and ran to help her. Just as she lost her grip, Cassandra grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"Why did you help me? Artemis asked when she was able to stand on solid ground again.

"Because I'm a Ranger and I am duty-bound to help people. Even if those people steal the love of my life from me. Who are you anyway?" Cassandra firmly told her.

"It's a long story," Artemis replied. "My name is Artemis, named after the Goddess Artemis. I was born in Nazareth in 5 A.D. When I was a young woman, I bore witness to the tragedy that has come to be known as the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The day that I turned 25, a horrendous hag cursed me to live forever. At first, I thought it was a blessing to be eternally young, but as the world aged and I didn't, I realized it was nothing but a curse. I've watched so many loved ones die or leave me. I was eventually able to bear a child, my daughter Sarah, with a man. But he left me as well. When I met Leonidas about 5 years ago, my only thought was if he would stay. I disclosed my secret to him, and he ended things between us soon after. Tragedy struck, and my daughter was diagnosed with an incurable disease. I prayed to Olympians to save her. My prayers went unanswered and I performed a ritual to summon Xerxes. He granted my request to save my daughter, and Sarah was saved. She turned 6, just last week. My wish came at a price, however, as I was tasked to eliminate any leader of an opposing force that would fight against him, in his eventual return. This meant Red Rangers'. However, I couldn't kill the men I had loved at one point or another. I simply put them into a deep sleep for a period. Over the years, I've been able to fight through the curse that has kept me young, and the power Xerxes has had over me. A chance encounter with Leonidas, caused me to remember my love for him, but my duty came first. I almost killed him. But just now, when the Elemental Pillar of Fire was unearthed, I could feel my curse break. I can finally live my life again."

Cassandra wiped tears from her eyes and pulled Artemis into a tight hug.

"Oh, my god! I had no idea that your life had been that difficult. I don't think I would be able to last a year, let alone thousands!" Cassandra cried. Leonidas let out a groan, causing Cassandra and Artemis to divert their attention to him. His skin had quickly turned a dusky pallor, and his lips were a light shade of blue. Cassandra began to cry uncontrollably. "Save him, please!" she begged.

Artemis began to chant an arcane language, and a circle of runes appeared around Leonidas. The runes glowed a bright white as Artemis rose into the air. The blood that has stained the ground, began to slowly return to Leonidas' body. He coughed a little, as he began to breathe normally again.

"I'm giving him what remains of my immortality. It will place him into a Dream State for some time, as his body needs to heal and become accustomed to the power. He will live," Artemis screamed as the immortality was pulled from her body in a shower of golden light, and descended upon Leonidas. His eyes opened and quickly changed from his stormy-grey color to golden honey. "It is done. He is now immortal."

Cassandra kissed Leonidas on the forehead and closed his eyes.

"Come back to me fast," she whispered into his ear. Standing up, she hugged Artemis tightly. "Thank you. I misjudged you. Perhaps you aren't the homewrecking skank, I thought you were."

"You're welcome. I guess I'd better leave you two alone. But I think you might be needing this," Artemis mumbled as she handed Cassandra her engagement ring. With a flash, she changed into a hawk and flew away.

Cassandra kneeled back down and took Leonidas' hand in her own.

"What am I going to do with you?" she sighed.

 _ **Dream State**_

Leonidas awoke with a start in a dimly lit cavern, filled with technology that seemed oddly familiar.

"Why do I feel as if I've been here before?" he whispered. An alarm sounded, and he was met by four red dots on his chest.

"State your name, stranger!" a distorted voice shouted.

"Leonidas Aira Florian. Red Ranger and leader of the Spartan Force Rangers," he answered.

A tendril of lightning struck him in the chest and he fell to one knee. "Ugh. Was that really necessary?"

Another tendril struck him, causing him to fall to the ground.

"The Spartan Force Rangers haven't existed for 10 years. They were destroyed when Leonidas was killed by Xerxes. I will ask you again. Who are you?" the voice shouted again.

"I told you already!" Leonidas groaned. He heard the charging of a weapon, and the tendril struck the ground next to him. A person clad in a black-armored suit walked up and knelt in front of him.

"This isn't possible. You died. We all watched as Xerxes killed you!" the voice cried. It was starting to sound a little familiar. "We mourned your death."

The person took off their helmet and Leonidas was looking at Cassandra, 10 years older.

"Cassandra?" he asked. With tears in her eyes, she began to laugh.

"Yeah baby, it's me," she cried and kissed him. The shock sent his mind into overdrive.

 _ **Reality**_

Leonidas woke with a start and almost knocked Cassandra out.

"Leonidas! It's okay. Shh!" Cassandra spoke softly. Leonidas looked around and saw he was in his bed, with her laying next to him.

"What happened? You were old, and I was dead!" he asked.

"It was a dream. Artemis placed you into a dream state, while you recovered from your wounds," Cassandra explained.

"What happened to the Elemental Pillar?" Leonidas asked.

"After Nagi'z had stabbed you and left you for dead, it was absorbed by Xerxes. Artemis gave you what remained of her immortality," Cassandra finished.

"So, I'm…immortal?" Leonidas asked.

"No. Artemis said you were, but you do not possess full immortality. According to Alexander, you are immune to disease and invincible to almost any attack. However, your muscles will eventually tire, and your bones will weaken. So, you will die, but only when your body can no longer go on," Cassandra explained again. A knock on the bedroom door interrupted their conversation, and Leonidas' parents walked in.

"Mom? Dad? What's up?" he asked. It looked like his mother had been crying.

"Leonidas, your father and I have been talking, and we've decided that it's best if you moved out," she told him.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" Leonidas asked.

"Well, being a Power Ranger and keeping something like that from us is a huge thing. You've been put into the hospital twice! Please just pack your things. We want you out of this house by Friday," his father stated. Leaving, his mother placed a wooden box on the dresser.

"I can't believe this! What am I going to do?" Leonidas worried. Cassandra kissed his forehead softly and took his hand in hers.

"My parents said you could come and stay with us. You know that my house is enormous. Six bedrooms and we have 1900 acres of land to explore. Most of it is wooded area. I think they will be here with a truck in a few hours, to help you load your things. Just sleep for now and regain your strength," Cassandra explained. Leonidas rested his head and closed his eyes.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes' blasted his Bruisers with a fire so hot, you could feel the heatwave on the Earth's surface.

"What do you mean you can't locate the Pillar of Darkness? It's obviously in a secured location of the Rangers Headquarters! Find that, and you find the Pillar!" he screamed. Turning up the heat, he reduced the Bruisers to sand. Corine was watching from the doorway and enjoying the malicious act by her lover.

"My love, when will the Chaotic Rangers be ready? They need to cut their teeth," she asked.

"Soon my Queen. Right now, they are simple carbon copies of the Rangers. I need the Pillar of Darkness, to twist and corrupt them with evil. If only these idiots could find them," he answered.

"Maybe you could send a monster down to attack the city and then send a retrieval goon to hopefully find the Pillar," Corine suggested.

Xerxes' smiled at this and laughed.

"That is an excellent idea. Thank you," he said to his wife. He clapped his hands together and a monster appeared in the throne room. This monster happened to be a conglomeration of human body parts and seemed to be missing pieces of flesh in certain places.

"Ophyron. I need to acquire something. Do what you do best and annihilate the gym," he ordered.

"Yes, my Lord," he replied and jumped through a portal. A Bruiser jumped in after him and the portal closed.

 _ **Leonidas' Dream State**_

Leonidas watched as his previous dream unfolded once again and was then whisked away and thrust into the middle of a vicious battle. Looking around, he took notice that the sky was on fire and the ground was cracking all around. His team, The Spartan Rangers were currently engaged with Persians, Bruisers, and all types of monsters. On a distant hilltop, a figure in all white was trying to fight off Xerxes. They appeared to be a Ranger in a white uniform.

"Who is that?" Leonidas wondered. A massive force of kinetic energy connected with his back, knocking him off his feet.

"Nobody, that you need to be concerned with, Red Ranger!" a grinding voice spoke. Turning around, Leonidas saw Nagi'z. It appeared as if he had been viciously torn apart and crudely sewn back together. His metallic armor was distorted from the battle around us, and he was oozing some type of blackish liquid. "NOW DIE!" he shouted. Leonidas summoned the Spirit of the Dragon Phoenix and morphed.

"This will be the last time, Nagi'z!" Leonidas yelled. Leonidas and Nagi'z ran at each other and their swords clashed together. The amount of energy that was expelled, sent shockwaves radiating out and caused the surrounding battle to cease. In the distance, Xerxes struck down the mysterious Ranger and forcefully absorbed their life force.

"I AM GOD!" he screamed to the heavens. Leonidas was able to outmaneuver Nagi'z and sliced his hands clean off.

"H…ho…how? I am the master swordsman! You are just a stupid mortal!" he spat.

"Well, this stupid mortal just outsmarted you, Nagi'z," Leonidas laughed. He swung his sword as quickly as he could and all that could be heard was the sickening sound of Nagi'z' head leaving his body. Feeling triumphant, he turned around and came face-to-face with Xerxes.

"Leonidas…it's time your tale came to an end, for good!" Xerxes spoke softly as he slowly plunged his sword into Leonidas' abdomen. All Leonidas could do was gasp as he demorphed. He began to cough up blood as his mouth filled with it.

"You'll never win," he gagged.

"I think I just did," Xerxes whispered into his ear. Leonidas could feel the metal inside him become blisteringly hot, and Xerxes lifted the sword up and cleaved him in half.

 _ **Reality**_

Leonidas opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as he discovered he was still alive. Looking out the window, he noticed a U-Haul pulling up.

"Time to go…" he breathed. Taking his duffle bag out of the closet, he stuffed all his clothes inside. Wrenching up a loose floorboard, he retrieved $5,000 in cash and an experimental gauntlet he had been working on.

"Leonidas! Time to go!" Cassandra called up.

"Be right down, babe! Just finishing up the packing!" he replied. As he walked downstairs, he gave his parents a look of disdain.

"We love you, Leonidas," his mom spoke softly. Scoffing at the statement, he turned to look at them.

"You don't love me. If you did, you wouldn't be throwing me out for keeping secrets from you! I hope Xerxes makes the both of you suffer, if he is able to succeed in his plans," Leonidas spat at them. Tears were streaming from their eyes as he said this. He turned around and walked out of the house. Meeting up with Cassandra's father and shook his hand.

"How are you doing, Leonidas? We'll get you all settled in tonight. Now since you and my daughter are engaged to be married, you'll be staying in her room. I do have rules though; try and keep your 'problems' away from the house, be home at a reasonable time, and just do your school work. Seem fair?" he explained.

"No, Lord Sykes," Leonidas replied. The older gentleman raised his hands in the air, and Leonidas was worried that he had offended him.

"Lord Sykes is my father. Please, call me Fletcher," he said softly. Leonidas nodded and tossed his duffle bag into the back of the truck. Leonidas and Cassandra's morphers' went off and a holograph of Trojan appeared on Leonidas'.

"Leonidas, we have a problem. A monster known as Ophyron is wreaking havoc in Sydney. You must get there and stop him!" he ordered and faded away.

"Do what you have to do," Fletcher said solemnly. Leonidas broke into a run and jumped into the sky in a burst of flames, transforming into the Dragon Phoenix. Cassandra jumped on to his back and they flew away into the clouds.

 _ **Dream State**_

Xerxes' laughed triumphantly as he cleaned his blade on the burnt grass around Leonidas' corpse.

"Your world has ended in flames!" Xerxes laughed. One by one, every city fell and those who resisted, met an untimely demise. The remaining Rangers were forced underground.

 _ **Reality**_

 _ **Sydney, Australia**_

Ophyron was torturing a small group of civilians when police opened fire on his back.

"Ha, ha, ha! That tickles!" he laughed. The police ceased their barrage of bullets as Ophyron turned around. Opening his mouth, he revealed a multitude of bullets and shot them back at the police, brutally massacring them. "Police brutality! This is fun!"

High up in the sky, Leonidas used his enhanced sight to spot Ophyron. Starting his descent, Leonidas shifted back into human form and joined with Cassandra.

"ANCIENT WHIRLWIND STRIKE!" they shouted together. Cassandra and Leonidas joined hands and began to spin at max velocity. The resulting creation was a red and blue fireball that slammed into Ophyron.

"What the…" he coughed and staggered backwards. Cassandra and Leonidas separated and quickly morphed.

"Red Ranger Ready, Spirit of the Dragon Phoenix!" Leonidas shouted.

"Blue Ranger Ready, Spirit of the Hydra!" Cassandra shouted. Ophyron rubbed ash and soot out of his eyes, roaring in anger.

"Ranger Schmanger! Nothing can defeat the mighty Ophyron!" he yelled. He clapped his hands together and sent a shockwave towards the two, knocking them off their feet.

"Somebody missed their nap!" Leonidas groaned. In a burst of green fire, the rest of the team appeared and ran over to them.

"Thank for the invite, guys! What are we dealing with here?" Cedric asked sarcastically.

"Big guy over there!" Leonidas told him.

"Persians, Bruisers, attack!" Ophyron ordered. Persians and Bruisers crawled through the ground and toward the Rangers. Cedric, Lily, and Dorian morphed.

"Black Ranger, Ready! Spirit of the Scorpion!" Cedric yelled.

"Yellow Ranger, Ready! Spirit of the Thunderbird!" Lily yelled.

"Green Ranger, Ready!" Spirit of the Cerberus!" Dorian yelled.

"Spartan Rangers, Defender of the Ancient World!" they all shouted as an explosion took place behind them.

"Oh goodie! More mortals to crush!" Ophyron laughed. They all ran at each other and almost the entire time, they were fighting the foot soldiers. Ophyron spent much of the fight watching the battle. "Eeenie, meenie, minie, MO!" he shouted and fired a blast of dark energy towards Cedric and disappeared with a laugh. Cedric shook off the attack and continued to fight.

Once all the Persians and Bruisers had been defeated and reduced to nothing but putrid dust, they surveyed the damage that had been dealt to the surrounding area. A crowd of people began to emerge, and a look of disgust washed over them. Grabbing anything that they could, the group of civilians pelted the Rangers with projectiles.

"Get out of here! You're no better than those monsters! Every time you show up, people die! We don't need you!" one person said.

"C'mon guys, we should probably get out of here," Dorian said as he turned to teleport away from the street. However, Cedric stood his ground and summoned his hammer.

"Ya'll Crocodile Dundee motherfuckers need to show some gratitude! We could have just let these monsters destroy you! We are all that stands between complete destruction and the salvation of the Earth. He slammed his hammer on the ground and a crack appeared in the ground which spread to the civilians. An elderly man fell through the crack and all that could be heard were his screams as he disappeared.

"Cedric, what are you doing? We're tasked to protect the innocent, not hurt them. C'mon, let's go," Lily said calmly. Cedric shrugged his shoulders and teleported away with everyone else.

 _ **The Caves**_

The Rangers' reappeared in the Power Chamber and demorphed. Leonidas was the first one to scold Cedric, as he rounded on him.

"What the hell, Ced?' he screamed.

"I don't know, bro. It felt like something washed over me. I can't exactly explain it. Ophyron blasted me but it didn't damage me at all," Cedric explained. An alarm sounded somewhere and they all looked at the viewing globe, seeing the Power Chamber.

"Is this thing broken?" Dorian asked. An explosion rocked the Power Chamber, causing a few stalagmites to fall.

"What was that?" Cedric asked. "It sounded like it came from the lower levels!"

The team ran to where they thought would be the origin of the explosion and found nothing but desolate destruction. The containment field for the Pillar of Darkness was destroyed, and a few Bruisers were handling the mystical object. The Pillar began to hum, and arcs of dark energy started to emit from the stone, sensing a dark power in the room. "Hey! Stop right…" Cedric began before he was struck by the negative energy. The Bruisers disappeared, and Trojan and Alexander materialized.

"Status report?" Alexander asked. Leonidas let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"The containment unit was destroyed, and the Pillar of Darkness has been stolen…" Leonidas spoke softly.

"Then it's gone for now. Go back to school, Rangers. You all have exams tomorrow," Trojan told them.

"Yes, Mr. Pasqual. Would there be anyway that you could help us out with the exams?" Dorian asked.

"No. You should have been studying all along," he replied.

They all bid each other farewell and departed for home. Lily and Cedric began arguing as soon as they returned to her house. She fell asleep with dried tear tracks on her face. Dorian was tracked down by his father, deep in the inner-city and forcibly taken home. Leonidas and Cassandra retired to their room and were laying down next to each other.

"When will all this be over?" Cassandra asked as she wiped her make-up off.

"Only time can tell. We need to retrieve the Elemental Pillars and defeat Xerxes. I feel as if this is going to be a long, perilous, and life-threatening journey. Hopefully it will all be over soon," Leonidas answered. Cassandra took Leonidas' hand in hers and breathed deeply.

"How does nine months sound?" she spoke in a barely audible whisper. Leonidas' mouth hung open and Cassandra broke into a wide smile.

"We're going to have a baby?" Leonidas asked. He was in a clear state of shock. Cassandra nodded and was silenced by a kiss from Leonidas.

"I'm…four…weeks…along," she spoke in between the passionate kissing. Leonidas rolled on top of her and kissed down the length of her body, making sure to pay extra attention to her breasts. Within minutes, they had stripped each other of all necessary clothing and were making love to one another.

"I love you, Cassandra," Leonidas grunted as he thrust his hard cock into her tight pussy, continuously. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh filled the room.

"Uh…fuck…I love you…too…Leonidas. Harder…Damn you hard!" Cassandra moaned while screaming. Leonidas picked up his pace and soon, his back was completely covered in red marks. Cassandra had been digging her nails into his back. This went on for a good hour before they both neared their individual climaxes.

"Cassandra…I'm going to cum…" Leonidas groaned. Cassandra sucked on her nipples seductively as he reached her peak, and her essence spilled out over Leonidas' cock, sending him over the edge. Feeling his balls tighten, he let loose a torrent of white fluid that sprayed over Cassandra. When he was finished, it appeared as if little pearls were sitting on her chest and stomach.

Deciding to be a bit more erotic, Cassandra scooped up a hearty helping of Leonidas' semen with her finger and sucked it off.

Leonidas laughed and laid back down next to Cassandra, pulling her close to him. Their naked bodies encountering one another. "Good night, Cassandra."

 _ **Lily's House**_

Cedric and Lily were laying together in her bed, fast asleep. Deep within Cedric, a chemical imbalance was taking place. Waking up, he slowly walked into the bathroom and discovered he was covered in an armor-like substance. It was natural armor. Looking closely in the mirror, he noticed that he was becoming encased by the armor.

"This isn't armor. It's a god damn cocoon!" he shouted. Within mere minutes, he was completely encased in a translucent black casing.

The following morning, Lily called up everyone in tears and they were all dragged to her house. She stood beside the bathroom in a hot-pink lace thong and electric-blue bra.

"Lily, what's wrong? Where's Cedric?" Dorian asked. She sniveled and tried desperately to regain her composure. It's not an easy task when you are half-naked in front of your friends.

"Cedric's gone. We argued all night, and when I woke up this morning, he was gone. All that was here was this big black rock!" she cried. Cassandra pulled her close and hugged her.

"Shh…it's going to be fine. I'm sure Cedric went to the gym or something," Cassandra assured her.

Trojan pulled a peculiar device out of his pocket and placed it on the crystalline monolith in the bathroom. The on-screen display showed vital signs and a picture of Cedric.

"It appears that Cedric has been placed into a full hibernation-like state. His vitals are slightly elevated. It seems that he is under-going some sort of process. I don't recall ever seeing this before. I can't say for certain how long he will be contained within. We might just have to wait and see what happens," he explained as best he could. Lily began to cry hysterically once more and smacked the monolith. Within a half of a second, the object had shattered. Cedric was still for a moment and when he awoke, he embraced Lily in a tight hug.

"Cedric, what happened?" Lily questioned as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"I don't know. I woke up in the middle of the night and whatever this was, was slowly covering my body. I'm fine now. It was just weird," Cedric spoke quietly as he stretched his stiff muscles.

"We should all get to school. Mr. Pasqual will be furious if we are late for class again," Leonidas suggested. Looking around, they all took notice that Trojan/Mr. Pasqual had disappeared.

 _ **2 Hours Later…**_

"…that exam was brutal! It's almost as if he expected us to fail. Do we not have other things to worry about? Perhaps the impending end of the world hasn't crossed his mind yet?" Dorian shouted as they left class for a free period.

"Don't worry about it, Dor. It's almost time for Christmas and we only have a half of a year left. We'll all be attending college in a matter of months," Cassandra reassured him. While they were all lounging in the student recreational area, a pressing news report came on the screen.

"Good morning, my name is Linda Ticl and this is Channel Eight News. We go live to an in-progress press conference with Australian representative, Nigel Penor. Nigel?" an anchorwoman on screen spoke. The picture shifted to the aftermath of the Rangers' battle with Ophyron. A sandy-haired man in his mid-30s, appeared on the screen.

"Thank you, Linda! What occurred over the weekend here is a statement by these so-called "heroes", known worldwide as the Power Rangers. With every incarnation that has come before, one has never intentionally done harm to innocent civilians. But the Black Ranger, under no pretense, did not hesitate to almost send Australia's fine citizens to a rocky death beneath the ground. It is my personal wish, to have the Power Rangers hunted down and deactivated. Permanently," Nigel proposed. Lily turned the television off and sat down, rubbing her temples. The entire room had fallen silent, as they all contemplated what this could mean for the legacy of the Power Rangers and the entire world.

"That sucks. I didn't even mean to do it," Cedric mumbled.

"Well it's done. Now we all must deal with the consequences," Leonidas grunted.

The rest of the day was entirely uneventful, which was unsettling to everyone. As Leonidas and Cassandra were driving home, he closed his eyes and was immediately taken back to the post-apocalyptic world. He kept experiencing the same battle in his head, in which he kept dying by Xerxes sword.

As Cedric walked home to his step-father's apartment, he couldn't help but take notice of a group of thugs abusing a homeless man.

"Hey! Leave him alone! He doesn't deserve any of that!" he shouted. The thugs left the old man alone, but then began to chase after Cedric. Taking off at a quick sprint, Cedric dived into an open dumpster in a nearby alleyway. Deciding he would attack them, he readied his morpher. Outside of the dumpster, one of the thugs had pulled a .45 Magnum from his waistband. Cocking the weapon, he aimed it at the dumpster.

"We know youse is here, runt! Come out and play…" he spoke. Deep down, Cedric could feel something changing inside of him. It had to have been an effect of Ophyron blasting him, along with the spark from the Pillar of Darkness.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes was waiting for the perfect moment to strike fear into the hearts and minds of the mere mortals below. Ophyron had given him the opportunity when he had retrieved the Pillar of Darkness. The entire world already viewed the Rangers as vigilantes, what more could a little destruction from them do? With a snap of his fingers, the Pillar of Darkness spat out a pure-black orb of evil energy. It quickly fell through the floor and searched for its intended target. Looking over at his wife, Corine, he smiled maliciously. Jumping on top of her, she yelped, but soon they were fucking like rabbits.

 _ **Reno**_

The orb quickly found Cedric and enveloped his body. He had been patiently waiting until the ones who were trying to kill him had come close enough. As the orb enveloped him, he began to convulse violently. Cedric quickly transformed into a creature, whose mind was clouded with rage and an insatiable hunger. As the transformation completed itself, he leapt out of the dumpster and attached himself to the wall above the assailants. Cedric had been changed from a normal man, to a black scorpion-human hybrid.

"Is this what you wanted to kill?" he snarled. The one with the gun fired off several rounds, but the bullets merely seemed to bounce off his armored chest. Cedric jumped to the ground and punched one of the thugs so hard, his entire body went limp. The others tried to run away, but they couldn't outmatch his speed. Soon, Cedric had them in a shredded pile of flesh and bones. Sitting down to his well-earned meal, he found a broken piece of a mirror and looked at his reflection. Enraged, he smashed the mirror up against the dumpster. Venturing out into the city, he decided he would kill for his food and destroy anyone who stood in his way.

 _ **Lily's House**_

Locked in her laboratory, Lily was working on the experimental gauntlet Leonidas had given her.

"Where on Earth, did he find the time to create this? It appears to be on the same scale as our equipment," she spoke in an intrigued voice. Her morpher went off and she activated it.

"Lily? We need you downtown, it concerns Cedric," Dorian said quickly. As fast as a bolt of lightning, Lily jumped out of her two-story home and took off into the sky, in her Thunderbird Form.

"What have you done now Cedric?" she thought to herself as she flew through the clouds, causing thunderstorms in her wake.

Reaching the center of the city, she landed with as much grace as a swan on the edge of a building. Everybody minus Cedric, was looking down into the streets below. What she noticed, horrified her and caused her to cry. Scattered in the street, the bodies of innocent people laid. Torn to shreds. Persians and Bruisers were destroying everything. In the middle of the destruction, a black creature was devouring a morbidly-obese man.

"What on in God's name?" Lily asked.

"That my dear, is Cedric…" Trojan said solemnly. They all looked down at the destruction with a grimace.

Down in the street, Cedric could tell he was being watched and snarled. Looking up, he saw Lily which made him stop for a moment. Deep within, his subconscious was telling him to fight the anger, but was silenced before it could take an effect. Cedric raised his tail and shot a blast of green energy towards the group of Rangers. It overshot them by just a few feet.

"Well…things just got a whole lot more interesting." Dorian chuckled.


	8. Chapter Seven: Chaotic

CHAPTER SEVEN: CHAOTIC

As the other four Rangers looked down at their "former" teammate, they were trying to devise a strategy to defeat him and return him to normal.

"Trojan, what do you think could have caused this?" Leonidas asked. Lily was being comforted by Cassandra in the corner of the rooftop.

"I have a theory. It might have been caused by a chain reaction between pure evil and the energy blast he received from Ophyron. That combination could have caused his animal spirit to awaken and shift into high-speed. This resulted in the abomination, we now see below us," Trojan explained. Lily raised her head when she heard abomination and laughed.

"You don't look too good yourself Trojan. In fact, you are the oldest living thing here. Fucking Fogey!" Lily scoffed and continued to cry. Trojan shrugged off the nasty comments and withdrew a futuristic-looking gun, aiming it at Cedric. As it began to discharge, Leonidas messed with the shot and it grazed the top of Cedric's head, who roared in defiance.

"What are you doing?" Leonidas shouted. Trojan backhanded him in anger and aimed the weapon at his chest.

"You know as well as I do, that there is little chance of changing him back! Destroying the creature is the only sensible option we have right now. I don't suppose you possess any knowledge of how to reverse the transformation?" Trojan screamed.

"He can't possibly be any different than the monsters we face every day. Perhaps if we defeat him, the control over his mind and spirit could be broken. It's worth a shot…" Leonidas suggested. Trojan thought about the idea for several minutes, before lowering the weapon.

"I'm going to give you one chance. If you are unsuccessful in freeing him, he will die. Get to work," Trojan ordered. The remaining four Rangers quickly morphed and jumped down to the chaos below. Cedric narrowed his beady eye-slits and let out an ear-splitting cry. Out from cracks in the Earth, demonic-looking versions of themselves emerged with malicious weapons.

"Prepare to be destroyed mortal! And bow before the might of Xerxes!" the red one growled.

"And who are you?" Lily asked sarcastically with her hands on her hips. The yellow one spoke up and her voice sounded like broken glass being mixed in a blender.

"We are the epitome of creation. Much better than you, Spartan Rangers. Our mission is to destroy, cause mayhem and death. We are the Chaotic Rangers, The Scourge of the Ancient World!" the blue one screeched.

"Perfect…as if we didn't have enough to worry about during this whole thing. Now we have to fight evil versions of ourselves?" Cassandra complained. The Blue Chaotic Ranger proceeded to take off its helmet, revealing a face quite like herself.

"All you do is complain. I don't know what Leonidas could possibly see in you. You know full well he could be with someone better. And he will be, once we destroy you. Xerxes has plans for Leonidas!" she screeched. The duplicate let down her bundled, blonde hair and laughed. "We even have better names than you. I'm Rebecca, Green over there is Johnathan, Black is Jamal, Yellow is Sarah, and Red is Alexander."

"You have spoken the threats, but unless you have the skills to back them up, it's all just talk," Dorian shouted. The Chaotic Rangers all pulled out despicable-looking sabers, most likely channeling the spirits of dark creatures.

"Spirit of the Chimera, Red Chaotic Ranger!" Alexander shouted.

"Spirit of the Gorgon, Blue Chaotic Ranger!" Rebecca called.

"Spirit of the Harpy, Yellow Chaotic Ranger!" Sarah screamed.

"Spirit of the Cyclops, Green Chaotic Ranger!" Johnathan yelled.

"Spirit of the Banshee, Black Chaotic Ranger!" Jamal screamed.

"Chaotic Rangers, Scourge of the Ancient World!" they shouted together. Swinging their sabers up, they let loose erratic blasts of energy which combined into one monstrous attack, striking the Rangers feet sending them flying. Landing on their backs, they rolled over in pain.

"Is it possible that they are more powerful then us? Dorian asked groaning.

"You could get up and find out for yourselves! Fight with honor. We will make your last breath as painless as possible," Alexander ordered. The Rangers stood up, summoning their weapons and ran at the opposition. As their swords clanged against its twin, a ghostly wail and lightning arced as each blade connected.

"You can't beat us. We are exact copies of you. We know all of your moves!" Jamal joked. Forcing them all away, Leonidas snapped his fingers and his swords changed into the Dragon Phoenix and Hydra swords respectively, while the rest of his team summoned their primary weapons. Dorian tossed his shield which bounced off the corner of a building and separated into three spectral Cerberus, attacking the Chaotic Rangers.

Lily spun rapidly and became a vortex of dangerous lightning, creating a hazardous battlefield. Cedric growled and took cover from the lightning, hiding in the darkness. Pulling back on her Hydra Bow, Cassandra fired on the scorpion hiding in the darkness. Leonidas and Alexander were high in the air, engaged in a deadly swordfight.

"You can't win. Xerxes vision will come true, and your world will end in flame. Xerxes will become the god he was meant to. You should just give up and run while you can," Alexander spoke.

"I will never give up. Not while there is hope within the hearts of every single heart and mind of the people. You would know that if you had any sense of humanity!" Leonidas grunted as he fought.

"My humanity exists, Leonidas. I am a carbon copy duplicate of you. I know everything about your existence. I also know that you and Cassandra are expecting a child. It'd be a shame if something happened to them, wouldn't it?" Alexander suggested slyly.

"If you touch her, there is no where in the world you can hide. I will send you back to the deepest recesses of whatever pit you crawled from," Leonidas threatened. Alexander summoned the Fang of the Chimera, throwing it towards Cassandra. He laughed as the edge of the sword grazed her left arm. Falling to the ground, she clutched her arm and demorphed, crying in utter pain.

"Poison from the Chimera. Deadly. The only way she can be cured, is the Physician's Cure, known only to be in the possession of the god Apollo. I guess your beloved is going to slip away in agony," he laughed. The only emotion that Leonidas could feel was rage. The only thing he remembered next was Alexander falling to the ground, holding on to a hole in his neck. Leonidas looked around and took notice of his hand changing back from a dragon claw. He must have ripped his throat out.

The Chaotic Rangers vanished along with Cedric. A voice rang out through the city, causing a high-rise to crumble. Leonidas demorphed, running over to Cassandra, who was spasming and frothing at the mouth.

"She needs care beyond what I am able to administer. Let's get her to the Power Chamber," Trojan told them. Without even pressing his morpher, the area around them melted away and the Power Chamber appeared. Alexander floated down and possessed Cassandra's body. The dark veins that had begun to crawl on her skin, slowly receded and her skin color returned to normal.

"I am afraid Cassandra was poisoned by the Chimera…but she will live. Unfortunately, I cannot remove the poison from her bloodstream. She is lucky that the blade did not sever an artery or nick a vein. She will experience bouts of immense pain for the rest of her life. It appears that Xerxes is becoming craftier. Dark duplicates of yourselves, and taking control of Cedric? You have your work cut out for you, Rangers," Alexander explained.

Leonidas breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Oh…and she is pregnant."

"You guys are expecting a child?" Lily asked. Nodding in agreement, Lily squealed, and Dorian fainted.

 _ **Babylon**_

Xerxes pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, while healing Alexander.

"So, you're saying that, when I demanded their deaths…all you managed to do was cause the Blue Ranger pain for the rest of her life?" Xerxes growled.

"It was enough for Leonidas to know that anything and everything can be taken away. They know that they are gambling with their lives by opposing you," Alexander replied as he sat up from a stone slab. A white scar was noticeable on the side of his neck.

"Did they change form?" he questioned.

"He did. I was able to see his hand morph into a dragon claw, before he ripped out my throat," Alexander answered.

"So…they've been able to awaken the Ancient Spirits that grant them power? This makes things interesting," Xerxes mumbled. "Go to the courtyard and focus. You will be able to gain control of your spirits that way. It is necessary to combat the Rangers. Go!" Xerxes ordered.

The process of awakening an ancient spirit that resides within one's body, is extremely painful. You experience random bouts of enhanced power and partial transformations, over the course of several hours. The process can range from hours, to even days.

 _ **Reno, Nevada**_

Cassandra's parents had invited the group over for dinner, apart from Cedric, who they had been told about. The small talk was kept about academics.

"So, where are you guys looking at attending school in the upcoming Fall?" Fletcher asked as he took a sip of Chardonnay.

"Well, Daddy, Leonidas and I were planning on going to Yale together. I'm considering pursuing a medical degree with a focus in Neurology. And I think Leonidas will be going after a law degree with hopes of becoming a D.A. in New York City," Cassandra told him.

"A lawyer and a doctor married to each other? That's a potent mix. You'll be so busy with your careers, that you might never have time to see one another," her mom chimed in.

"We are willing to take that risk. It'll be tough, but I'm sure we can manage. We've been through so much already, a new challenge won't be that tough," Leonidas butted in.

"How about you, Lily? Dorian? Any plans after graduation?" Cassandra's mother asked.

"Well, Mrs. Sykes, I've been awarded a full academic scholarship to MIT and an engineering position at NASA upon graduation in 10 years. I'm quite excited," Lily told her.

"I'm waiting on my approval to Stamford. I'll be majoring in business and finance, and I'll be taking a high-level position at my father's company. He's grooming me to take over when he retires. I plan on selling the company and running for a congressional seat in the future," Dorian explained.

"I bet he'll love his company being sold off. I propose a toast. To long life, prosperity and love. May you all find happiness and success in your endeavors," Fletcher announced. Cassandra gave Leonidas a wink and he nodded in agreement.

"Mom, Dad. Leonidas and I have something important to tell you," Cassandra told them.

"What is it, baby girl?" Fletcher asked.

"We're having a baby!" she screamed. Fletcher choked on his wine while her mother fell out of her chair.

"You're joking right? You are much to young to have a baby! I mean you have no way of providing for yourselves, let alone a newborn! What were you thinking?" Fletcher yelled.

"It just kind of happened. But you know, we are going to be parents and raise our child to take the world by storm!" Leonidas stated with affirmation.

"Well, you've made your boat. Now you are going to have to sink or swim! I just wish you hadn't been so stupid, Cassandra. I thought we raised you better than this," her mother screamed. With tears in her eyes, Cassandra ran from the table. The sound of an oak door slamming echoed through the house.

"That went different in my mind," Leonidas muttered.

"What did you think our reaction was going to be, son?" Fletcher asked.

"Well, we thought you guys would be happy for us. What parents wouldn't be excited to be grandparents? I know we are a little young, but we can handle the challenge of being parents. College life might be stressful; however, we will make it work. Think about your daughter's happiness!" Leonidas scolded them. He stood up and went to comfort Cassandra. Lily and Dorian felt uncomfortable to say the least, so they stood up to leave.

"Thank you for the meal, Mr. and Mrs. Sykes. Unfortunately, we have quite a bit of school work to accomplish before tomorrow. If you wouldn't mind, could you excuse us?" Dorian explained. Dorian and Lily walked out of the house in a hurry, helping each other with their jackets.

Up in Cassandra's room, Leonidas was holding her as she cried into her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay. They're just shocked is all. I think that they will all come around to the idea of being grandparents. It's normal to worry about your child. Especially when your child is going to have a child of their own," Leonidas said quietly. Wiping her bloodshot eyes, she pulled her head up and kissed him.

"I just wish that they wouldn't treat me like a child anymore. I'm not a little girl. I'm pretty much a grown woman. I wonder if they'll ever see me as more than a girl, who used to dress up as a fairy princess. I'm hoping to be a neurologist and save lives! And you're going to be a highly successful lawyer," she sniffled. Kissing her forehead, they both fell asleep.

Lily and Dorian were walking home when everything turned cold and the streetlights went dim.

"Um…Dorian? What's going on?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. Let's get ready to morph. We may have to fight for our lives. Activating his morpher, he took up a defensive stance.

"You're going to have to do more than that, Green Ranger. There are many things that like to go bump in the midnight dark. Including me…" Jamal laughed as he rose from the ground.

"Where is your team?" Lily asked, as she scanned the area.

"I'm sure you will soon discover that each one of us is a force to be reckoned with individually. It's quite unfortunate that you won't live to see the end of your pathetic world," he continued.

"I think you might have that backwards. Because you see, we have the power of majestic creatures coursing through our bodies," Dorian mouthed off.

"That's true. But guess what? So, do we…" Jamal finished. A thick fog began to coat the ground as Jamal coated an ancient dead language. It felt as if all life was being sucked out of the air and replaced with despair.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lily shouted. Jamal simply smiled and laughed as a shadow began to engulf and flow through his body.

"I'm going to show you what real power looks like, Lily Ponsta and Dorian Redstone III. When I'm done with you, you'll be lucky if you ever get to see the afterlife!" Jamal threatened as he was engulfed in the shadow. Seconds later, he burst forth as a banshee and lunged at the two Rangers with an ear-splitting scream.

Channeling her power, Lily threw a lightning bolt at the creature but it merely passed through him. It was almost as if he was completely made of shadow. Dorian threw his shield, but he caught it in his gut as Jamal threw it back at him.

"Your weapons are useless against me!" Jamal laughed. Knocking them both to the ground, he split himself into two terrifying forms. Just as he was about to deal the fatal blow, he was blasted in the face by Leonidas.

"Geez, I thought you were ugly before. Bounce, hag!" Leonidas shouted.

"You're lucky your fearless leader was here to save you! Next time, you won't be so lucky!" Jamal shouted and disappeared. Leonidas ran over to where Lily and Dorian were lying and helped them up.

"You guys okay?" he asked.

"We're fine. Just shaken. They have powers too…there is no way we can combat them with our limited abilities," Lily groaned.

"We'll deal with that later. Right now, I think its best we stay together. They want us alone, so they can eliminate us systematically…one by one," Leonidas ordered.

Little did they know, they were all being watched by Cedric, and he was just waiting for the right time to strike. Cedric stalked them all the way back to the mansion.

"Soon my pet. Soon we shall strike," Nagi'z whispered. "Then…perhaps Xerxes will bring me back into the plan." He motioned with his hand, and Cedric leapt towards them.

Leonidas, Dorian and Lily heard the growling noise coming from the creature's throat before they physically saw it. By that time, they had all been pinned to the ground.

"CEDRIC, STOP! Don't do this. We're your friends! I'm your girlfriend, for Christ's sake!" Lily tried to reason. Cedric snarled and shoved his stinger into her leg, causing Lily to scream in immense pain.

"That's enough!" Dorian yelled as he bashed Cedric's head in with his shield. The three Cerberus took turns snapping at Dorian.

"Dorian, take care of Cedric! I'm going to see if Lily is alright!" Leonidas shouted. Before he could reach her, however, a volley of blasts caused him to stop in his tracks.

"Red Rover, Red Rover, why don't you come over?" Nagi'z sang.

"Nagi'z. I should have known you would do something as cowardly as this. Having our cursed friend do your dirty work? I thought you operated by a code of honor?" Leonidas spit.

"I have no quarrel with them. I am merely distracting them, so that you and I may fight. Put up your sword!" Nagi'z ordered.

"As you wish," Leonidas smiled. He quickly morphed and summoned the Dragon Phoenix and Hydra Swords, while Nagi'z pulled out a bright ruby-colored sword. They began to circle one another.

 _ **Cassandra and Leonidas' room**_

Cassandra had fallen asleep after crying her eyes out but was awoken by a slight hissing sound. As she opened her eyes, she noticed Rebecca brushing her blonde hair, but it was moving.

"What are you doing in my house?" Cassandra asked as she went to grab her morpher.

"I had a need to see how my other half lived. I've never seen a mirror before. The only thing I've seen is the wall of the dungeon that Xerxes forces us to stay in. He thinks of us as vermin," Rebecca explained.

"Please…if you expect me to feel pity for you, I have none. You practically almost killed me, or your significant other did. Are you here to kill me?" Cassandra snorted. She sat up and started to walk over to her but thought better of it. Turning around, Rebecca walked over to Cassandra and took her hands in her own.

"I'm here to ask you to stand down. You can't stop Xerxes. He is a natural disaster waiting to happen. I don't wish harm upon you and your unborn child. I don't like this anymore than you do. My team doesn't even know I'm here," Rebecca continued.

"You know I can't do that. I don't want my daughter growing up in a Wasteland. We have to try and stop him," Cassandra said firmly.

"Be warned. We will not make this easy for you," Rebecca replied.

"I don't expect you to. Now get out of here, before Leonidas comes in and rips you to shreds!" Cassandra finished.

"Consider me gone," Rebecca whispered. Cassandra blinked and she was gone.

 _ **Outside**_

Leonidas connected his swords at the hilt and charged at Nagi'z.

"Why do you insist on defeating me?" Leonidas grunted as their swords clashed together.

"Because it is prophesized. We are destined to do this forever. Unless you can kill me, your descendants will be fighting me until the end of time," Nagi'z laughed. He parried Leonidas' next blow and kicked him away. The air left Leonidas' chest as he grunted.

"Bullshit!" Leonidas yelled. Separating his blades, he chucked them both with such a force, that Nagi'z was pinned to an old oak. Wincing with pain, Nagi'z smiled.

"Still too weak to deliver a fatal blow?" Nagi'z asked.

"If we fight again, it will be fatal," Leonidas threatened. He looked over at Cedric, who was now a mangled wreck. Running over, he knelt by his side. A bright green liquid was flowing from a wound in his chest, and the edges were singed.

"Leonidas, he's not going anywhere. Lily is fine. She dealt the final blow. His stinger didn't penetrate deep enough to deal a great amount of poison. What do we do now?" Dorian asked as he demorphed.

"Is he still alive?" Leonidas asked solemnly. Lily nodded with a shuddering cry. He summoned his swords from Nagi'z and held them both aloft over Cedric's chest. Before they were able to plunge into him, Lily stopped the act.

"Leonidas…he's my boyfriend. Let me do it," she struggled.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Nodding, Lily took the swords and spun them in the air with grace.

"Cedric, I'm doing this for your own good. You've killed innocent people and hurt us. I love you. You'll no longer be in pain," Lily cried. A sickening crunch was heard as the swords cracked the armored abdomen of Cedric and sank into his flesh. Cedric snarled one last time and his last breath left his body. Pulling out the swords, Lily fell to her knees crying.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I wish there could have been something to help him. He was my best friend," Leonidas said trying to comfort the grief-stricken Yellow Ranger. What happened next, surprised them all. The creature that lay dead at their feet, slowly began to change back into Cedric. By some act of a remorseful god, Cedric breathed deeply. He opened his eyes and gasped. The sucking chest wound shrunk in size leaving a nasty scar, black in color. His hand gripped onto Lily's wrist, and he squeezed lightly.

"I'm so sorry," Cedric cried. "I never wanted to hurt you. You all know, I had no control over my actions? Rage, hunger, and death were the only things that I thought about," he groaned. Lily held onto him tight and kissed his neck.

"I was so scared for you. We all thought that there was no chance to change you back! It doesn't matter anymore, you are here, and you are safe," Lily continued to cry. As Leonidas opened his mouth to speak, Nagi'z disappeared in a bright blue flame.

"It…it actually does matter. Trojan and Alexander are going to need a detailed account of what happened. Tests will have to be run. And they will ultimately decide whether you are still worthy of being a Power Ranger," Leonidas explained. "But that can wait. I've spoken to Cassandra's father and he has agreed to house Dorian, Lily and Cedric. He has experience with an enemy strategy too well. We will all go to your homes and collect your personal belongings. For now, we should sleep," Leonidas added.

Walking inside, the Red Chaotic Ranger known as Alex, observed as they disappeared from the night. Rebecca appeared next to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"They are a persistent bunch," he whispered.

"Perhaps…I do wish that we didn't have to kill them though," Rebecca whispered.

"Same. We had better return to Babylon. Lord Xerxes will need to know what happened," Alex informed her. Summoning a temporal rift, they walked through and were gone.

 _ **Babylon**_

"Nagi'z? He has been quite the thorn in my side for much too long! If he continues to interfere with my plans, he will have to be removed from the equation," Xerxes growled. Corine had been listening intently as her head bobbed up and down on her husband's cock.

"Ugh…don't worry about that right now. Just focus on me and the sound of my lust-filled voice," Corine gagged and swallowed.

 _ **Power Chamber**_

Cedric was standing in the middle of an illuminated circle, as Alexander angrily floated by him.

"In all my years on this Earth…never have I seen the level of destruction that you caused! You ripped innocent people to shreds and feasted on their flesh, like…like a supernatural beast! Alexander explained.

"Mentor, I…" Cedric tried to explain.

"DO NOT DARE TO INTERRUPT ME!" Alexander screamed. "As a Power Ranger, it is your sworn duty to protect the lives of innocent people, from the threats of this world and others. As of now, you have broken many of the rules laid down by Zordon of Eltar! What could you possibly have to say that helps you in this?"

"Mentor…I know there are no words that would suffice to defend my recent actions. But I would like to say that it wasn't 100% my fault. The monster Ophyron blasted me and an orb of corrupt energy was absorbed into my body. I lost all sense of duty and honor. I had some idea of what I was doing, but my bestial instincts overpowered my morals. All I felt was rage, hunger and destruction. Upon learning of what I had done, I collapsed in agony. I wish there was some way to turn back time. If you will it, I will surrender my morpher and my powers. The way I see it, I am unworthy of being a Spartan Ranger," Cedric explained.

"You speak the truth. You are unworthy of being a Ranger any further…" Alexander began to speak. The rest of the Rangers' opened their mouths to protest but were quickly silenced by a wave of fire issued from his mouth. "…however, you are a critical member of this team. We are running out of time to stop Xerxes from acquiring enough power to take over the world. While you had no control over your actions, your mind should have been strong enough to overcome the virus that was infecting it. If this should happen again, I will possess your body and kill you from the inside. Your blood will evaporate and turn into dust, and your bones will liquify. If you thought becoming a monster was terrifying, wait until you feel your soul being burned away."

Cedric nodded and bowed in respect.

"On a lighter note, I believe Trojan has been able to locate the next Pillar?" Alexander asked.

"Yes. Rangers, if you would please gather around the Viewing Globe," Trojan began. The Rangers congregated around the screen, and it looked like a bunch of leaves. Zooming out, the leaves were replaced by a stone pillar with leaves floating above it.

"This is the Elemental Pillar of Earth. I was able to isolate all the false signals that happened to be running through the planet. Strangely enough, the Pillar is not located " _inside_ " the Earth. If this Pillar is ever moved, it destabilizes the entire surrounding area. Major earthquakes have been caused by this. Take caution as you approach it," Trojan explained.

"Where exactly is it?" Dorian asked.

"That is the fun part. I have managed to trace it to the Amazon. Exciting isn't it?" Trojan said giddily.

"The Amazon? As in the Amazon Rainforest, that covers a majority of South America? That's so wicked!" Lily shouted. Trojan laughed with enthusiasm at the Yellow Ranger.

"When do we leave?" Leonidas asked.

"Immediately. I've already explained to the school, that you five will be conducting research as your senior project. You'll be all set to graduate with full honors. Your parents know and while they are not happy, they know what needs to be done…" Trojan began to explain.

"When you say our parents "know", do they know about what we do?" Leonidas questioned.

"They know everything. I had to tell them. Now your flight leaves in just a few hours. I suggest you all pack for as long as you think you'll be there. I've used some of Alexander's vast fortune to acquire a Presidential Suite for you five in Rio de Janeiro. Any questions?" Trojan finished. The dead silence caused the entire room to become awkward. "Be on your way then."

 _ **Babylon**_

"They're being sent to retrieve a Pillar? That's quite interesting. Corine, please summon Ophyron to the throne room. I have a proposition for him," Xerxes cackled maniacally as he watched the Rangers tread back to their homes.

 _ **Reno (Cassandra Syke's Mansion) 6 hours later…**_

"It's spring right now, so it's possible it will be raining quite a bit. I'd say pack for the weather. A lot of jeans, button-up short sleeves, shorts, swimwear, and anything for walking in the woods. We'll need to look like everyday travelers and explorers. Everybody get that?" Leonidas explained.

"Honey, relax. It's not like none of us have ever gone hiking in the woods before," Cassandra assured him. Leonidas stormed away in a fury.

"The Amazon Rainforest isn't like the national parks, with all the safety regulations and rules, you've been to. The Amazon is more dangerous and life-threatening than anything that could ever experience. Deep within the forest, spiders the size of a car dwell; indigenous tribes that would like nothing more than to sacrifice us to a superficial god, and many other dangers. You must be wary," Leonidas shouted. A knock on the door caused them all to go on high alert, but relaxed when Trojan walked in with a large metal canister.

"I'm sorry, Rangers. I couldn't let you leave without outfitting you with new weaponry and armaments," Trojan spoke. He opened up the canister, and the Rangers looked at the advanced technology so advanced they couldn't help but be amazed.

"Trojan, this stuff is amazing. Where did you find the time to develop this?" Cassandra asked.

"It wasn't all of me. Lily was behind the designs of them all. I just gave her advice…when she needed it of course. Lillian truly is a bright girl. Along with new weapons, she also assisted in developing new Zords for all of you. They are an auxiliary to your main Zords," Trojan explained.

"Thank you. Both of you. These will surely help in our fight against, Xerxes," Cedric spoke. Trojan nodded and left. Walking over to the open crate, he picked up a pair of power blasters and a small red spherical orb that contained a fire beetle.

"The Samurai Rangers, Beetle Zord. I thought it was lost after the battle with Master Xandred?" Leonidas asked.

"Apparently, some other worldly force is at work here," Lily told him. "I found the Beetle Zord design within the Morphing Grid. It was classified as destroyed in battle, but I was able to regenerate it. The same goes for the Blue Shark Wild Zord and the Mystic Minotaur. The Majestic Raven and Slippery Viper are of my own design," Lily answered.

"Well, whatever happened…we have more firepower because of it. "What airport are we flying out of?" Dorian uttered calmly.

"None. We are flying out of Nellis Air Force Base on a C-130 to Brazil. Plane leaves in two hours. Let's go," Leonidas finished. The Rangers finished their packing and went downstairs to bid farewell to their families. While they weren't entirely happy to find out that their children had been fighting evil or flying to a different country to search for some ancient relic…but they understood no one else had the ability to do it. The only family members not saying goodbye, were Leonidas'.

"Not surprising," Leonidas mumbled. He loaded up in the armored military convoy, and they all headed towards the military base.

"It's alright, Leonidas. One day they will realize their mistake of alienating their son," Cassandra suggested.

"It's whatever. The way I see it right now, the only family I have is you, our unborn child, and the rest of the team. We should start going," Leonidas replied.

The entire trip to the usually bustling base was extremely quiet. It was quite unsettling.

"Anybody else notice that we weren't even attacked the entire way here? Maybe they've finally given up," Cedric joked.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that my good chum," Johnathan shouted from a mile away.

"Get all the supplies and everyone inside the plane. Tell the pilot to take off. I'll handle my counterpart," Dorian ordered. The Green Rangers faced each other and started running towards the direction of the other. Dorian began to sprout two extra heads and morphed into a dog the size of a large apartment complex. Johnathan grew eight feet and bulked up immensely, while his eyes merged into one. The two behemoths collided with each other and it was like an Olympic wrestling match. Dorian slashed the cyclops across the face and growled. Black ichor dripped from the wound, burning the ground.

"You insubordinate…" Johnathan roared. Ripping up a clump of Earth, he slammed it into Dorian's three faces. "Awh, is the puppy hurt?"

Dorian whimpered and lunged at Johnathan. They fell to the ground and Dorian came back up with flesh and blood hanging from his mouth. Johnathan immediately changed back and began coughing up blood. Morphing back, Dorian wanted to walk away, but he couldn't mercilessly kill someone in cold blood. No matter how many times they would try to kill them, the Chaotic Rangers were humans too. Aiming his morpher at Johnathan, he shot a healing ray at him.

"You're a damn fool, you know that? You could have easily just walk away and let me die. Why didn't you?" Johnathan struggled.

"Maybe it's because, I'm nothing like Xerxes. I don't just kill someone for the hell of it. We are connected in a way. If it wasn't for me, none of you would even exist. Perhaps, you could think of changing your 'evil' ways now?" Dorian explained.

"So, because you think you 'saved' me from dying, I'm going to help you kill my creator? I'm bound to do his evil bidding, Rebecca may have been swayed, but you'll need to defeat Xerxes to fully shatter the hold he has over us. You have a plane to catch," Johnathan answered as he coughed on more blood. Dorian walked back towards the aircraft and watched as the other Chaotic Rangers materialized around their fallen comrade.

"You shouldn't have done that. It seems all of our loyalties are being tested and need to be strengthened," Alexander spoke softly. Making a fist, the Pillar of Darkness burst out of the ground. "Everyone, place your hands on the Pillar."

"Alex, isn't there any other way?" Sarah asked.

"Wish there was, but Xerxes needs us," Alex continued.

"Will there be any way to come back from this dark place?" Rebecca asked.

"On the bright side, yes. We will have to choose something we want to be, when this is all over. The negative? All of us…must be on the edge of death, before we can be brought back to the side of the light. Our powers will be extinguished, and most of all our memories will fade. We will remember the Rangers, but we will have lives of our own," Alexander explained.

"I still don't know," Rebecca shrugged.

"Becca, it's either this or we return to absolutely nothing and our lives are over. I'd rather take the one where there is the possibility of us having a future. Don't you want a life together?" Alexander explained again.

"I guess. But you must promise me that when this is all over, we won't have to fight anymore," Rebecca told him.

"I promise," Alexander answered. "Now, please…"

Rebecca placed her hand on the ancient stone reluctantly. Alexander urged everyone else to place their hands on the stone. Being the last one to do so, Alexander's touch activated the object and black lightning arced out of the object, coursing through all five of the Chaotic Rangers. The pain was so much that they morphed and unmorphed several times, until they were permanently morphed.

"Should we follow them?" Sarah asked, motioning towards the aircraft taking off the runway. Her voice which was once normal, had become quite gravelly.

"No. Our prey will eventually return. In the meantime, they have left an entire city without protection," Alexander laughed.

"Oh, you know that's not happening right?" an unknown voice shouted. A group of Rangers materialized and unmorphed.

"You don't really think that a team of Rangers is going to leave their sector unprotected? They called through the Morphing Grid, with a P.R.B. asking any team of active Rangers to protect the city in their absence," Mack Hartford spoke.

"Ayah, go away. This has nothing to do with you!" Rebecca screamed. She summoned her Bow of Apollo and aimed.

"Save it. Why don't you run back into hiding?" Mack spoke again.

"We'll meet again," Alexander threatened. The Chaotic Rangers melted into the ground and disappeared along with the Pillar of Darkness.

"Mack, do you really think we can go up against a group of evil Rangers?" Dax Lo, the Blue Overdrive Ranger asked.

"Hey, we've fought demons. What's the worst that could happen this time?" Mack answered.

 _ **Babylon**_

"OPERATION OVERDRIVE! How many Power Rangers are there? And didn't I order Artemis to kill every Red Ranger? Apparently, no one likes to listen! Get me Nagi'z. I want this nuisance dealt with," Xerxes mumbled.

Nagi'z, despite his numerous upgrades was still some form of a human. The Red Spartan Force Ranger certainly lived up to his challenge. If he didn't win soon, he would lose, and that punishment could be far worse.

"Nagi'z?" Corine spoke.

"Yes, My Queen?" Nagi'z asked.

"Xerxes needs you…now," Corine ordered and walked away.

"He does?" Nagi'z mumbled. He looked at the notches in his armor and sighed. Such was the life of a henchman. Standing up, he let a picture of a mortal woman fall onto the floor. Upon the picture, the face of Necrolai showed. She seemed to be crying.


End file.
